


GOTG Fanfic (Untitled)

by ShyFicWriter



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Feels, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Illnesses, Injury, Injury Recovery, Loki (Marvel) Lives, Parent Yondu Udonta, Reader-Insert, References to Illness, Sick Character, Sneaking Around, Team Feels, Tickle Fights, Tickling, Yondu Udonta Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2019-09-18 12:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16995357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyFicWriter/pseuds/ShyFicWriter
Summary: I wrote this fic as if Yondu had never died at the end of the second GOTG movie. See link below for a really well written tumblr post about the concept of Yondu living at the end. I recommend you read it.http://ltfrankcastle.tumblr.com/post/160927734422/yondu-lives-a-concept





	1. Never Take Yondu’s Ravager Badge

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic as if Yondu had never died at the end of the second GOTG movie. See link below for a really well written tumblr post about the concept of Yondu living at the end. I recommend you read it.
> 
> http://ltfrankcastle.tumblr.com/post/160927734422/yondu-lives-a-concept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You hid Yondu’s Ravager badge. Now you’re in for it!

Yondu had you pinned facing down on your stomach on the metal floor of the front deck. “Where is it!” he demanded.    
  
“I don’t know!” you lied. You knew exactly where his Ravager badge went, but you weren’t going to tell him. You had taken it for a reason, he was being insufferable.   
  
“Sis, just give it back.” Peter, captain of the Guardians of the Galaxy, laughed at the spectacle of you being pinned down on the floor of the ship by the blue Ravager.  You weren’t really brother and sister, but after traveling together on the same ship for years, and seemingly being the only two Terran’s around, you both became to think of each other as such.  
  
“No! He’s being a dick.” you retort.  
  
“Aha! So ya admit it! Ya lil’ shit!” Yondu started searching the pockets of your jacket. 

“I-” you started, but you were cut off when Yondu went to check your front pants pockets. Shit. The badge wasn’t there, but your hips happen to be your worst tickle spot, and you were unable to stop yourself from immediately reacting.  
  
“Wait! Ahaha! DoHOn’t!!” You cried out, squirming, laughter pouring from your mouth uncontrollably. “Get your hahaand out of my pocket! Hahahaha!”  
  
“Oh, so it is in here!” the blue man accused, momentarily pulling back, not realizing what he was doing.  "What’s so damn funny?“ he asked as he started searching your front pockets again and you continued to laugh helplessly, reaching back and attempting to grab at his wrists to push his hands away.  
  
"AHAHA Pleahehehese! GET OFF!! AH!” you laughed, twisting in an attempt to throw the blue man off, but without success. “Peheheter! Plehease get him off! AHAHA! I can’t stand it! HAHAHA!”   
Peter just grinned and let you suffer, enjoying the show.  Yondu paused and turned to him, confused.  
  
“Geeze, did I break her or-?” Yondu started to ask the Star-Lord when he remembered when Peter was a boy, soon after he was taken aboard his Ravager Ship.   
  
***  
In the early years he was with Peter he learned a few things about humans. One of those things, on accident, was that people from Earth were, as Peter called it: ‘ticklish.’ He didn’t understand it too well, first thinking he had broken the boy when during a rough-housing session he threatened to eat Peter and picked him up, gently gnawing at his belly. He had intended to simply make a joke about the kid being too chewy and needing to be tenderized before they could eat him, but was surprised to hear the kid squealing with laughter.  "What the hell was that?“ he asked the boy before repeating to see if it happened again, resulting in the kid squealing for him to stop, that it 'tickles.’ "What the hell is 'tickles’?” he asked. Peter, surprised that Yondu didn’t know what tickling was, tried his best to explain it to the blue man, only getting a raised eyebrow in response when he tried demonstrating it by wiggling his fingers on Yondu’s belly.   
  
“Oh, um, you must not be ticklish.” Peter said sheepishly, pulling back his hands.   
  
“So, yer tellin’ me, that if I do this…” He repeated Peter’s experiment back at him, wiggling his fingers over the kid’s little belly and immediately getting laughter as a response. “…that it makes ya laugh?” Peter’s laughter already providing the answer, he nodded anyway, trying to push Yondu’s hands away. “And apparently makes ya squirmy as hell.” He laughed as he observed the kid kicking and wriggling, trying to free himself while giggling uncontrollably and begging Yondu to stop. He chuckled at the sight before stopping and asking: “Why?”   
  
“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows why. It just does.” said Peter, catching his breath.  
  
Yondu chuckled again. “Well ain’t that something.”  
***  
  
Yondu looked back at you. “Well ain’t this something.” he laughed, turning back to Peter. “This is that 'tickles’ thing, isn’t it? Like when ya were a kid?”  
  
“Yup. Let her have it.” Peter laughed as you protested, shooting him the most evil glare you could muster.  
  
“Wait, thought you said Terrans grow out of this sort of thing when they get older?”  
  
“Uh, guess she didn’t. That uh, happens more with the females. Sometimes they don’t.” Peter thought up quickly. He knew people never outgrew being ticklish. He only told Yondu that when he was around his late teens and was able to conceal his reactions more easily so that Yondu couldn’t use it against him anymore.  It didn’t take long after learning what tickling was for Yondu to discover that he could use it as leverage against the kid. For instance, if Peter was being a brat and didn’t want to do what he was told, or if Yondu wanted to make him “quit moping,” he’d tickle him into submission.  
  
“PE-TER!” You protest, ignoring the fact that Peter was talking out of his ass and instead focusing on the fact that he just told Yondu to “go ahead” and tickle the shite out of you.   
  
Yondu flipped you over to your back. “Alright, sweetheart! Ya have 5 seconds to tell me where it is, if ya know what’s good for ya. ONE.”  
  
“I’m not-"   
  
"TWO."   
  
"Get OFF you blue idio-Hhahaha” Yondu had already started lightly wiggling his fingers over your stomach.  
  
“THREE.”   
  
“God daahammit yhoohoou cheater!” you laugh as you bat at his hands.  
  
“FOUR.” Yondu had a mischievous smirk. “Just givin’ ya more reason to tell me… Last chance, cuz I don’t do mercy, kid.”   
  
“Gohoho to hell!”  
  
“Alright… I tried to give ya a chance, remember that. FIVE!” he stopped the onslaught with his fingers and went immediately to gnawing at your belly and sides, throwing you into fits of laughter.  
  
“HAHAHA! PETER!” you shriek.  
  
“What do you want me to do?” Star-Lord asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a smirk on his lips. “He diiiid try to give you a chance…”   
  
This reminded him of a time when he was younger and had pulled a prank on Yondu. He had rigged a small firecracker up to one of the drawers in his dresser to go off when Yondu opened the drawer. Only thing was, he didn’t stop to realize that maybe waiting outside the door of his victim  _miiight_  be a bad idea, especially when you’re 10 and can’t stop yourself from giggling when you hear their startled shouts of surprise following the mini explosion and also don’t have the presence of mind to, you know, maybe  _run away_  before you are heard and discovered.   
Safe to say, Yondu heard him giggling outside his door after the drawer-bomb went off. Peter didn’t notice until it was too late that Yondu had opened his door and was glaring down at him, arms crossed.  Peter barely had time to think  _'Oh, shit!’_ , much less have time to get away before Yondu grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside. “Ya think that’s funny, boy?” Yondu growled, pretending to be angrier than he was. “Ya won’t think that’s so funny when I eat ya!” Yondu then picked Peter up and began gnawing at his belly, something he knew drove Peter absolutely insane, until he was breathless and begging him to stop. Yondu never did this in front of the crew however, though it was most likely so the crew wouldn’t see their fearsome captain acting childish and silly, rather than for Peter’s benefit.  
  
“PLEhehease! Peter! HahahaHELP!” you cried out, interrupting his memory.   
  
“Alright…” Peter smirked as he walked towards you. “I’ll help Yondu.”   
  
“PETER! Nohoho!” you scream through your laughing fit.   
  
“Aha! That’ll teach ya to mess with  _this_  Ravager!” Yondu chided as Peter came over and pinned your arms over your head.   
  
“Hey, let’s find all her tickle spots.” Peter suggested, and went for your underarms, as that was what he was closest to. You shake your head rapidly in protest. Yondu had stopped gnawing at your belly as Peter pinned your arms, moving instead to wiggling his fingers up and down your sides as you threw your head back in laughter and your back arched in an attempt to free yourself.   
  
“Geeze, she’s even worse than ya were, kid.” laughed Yondu as he watched you thrash and kick around as much as you were able too with Yondu sitting on your upper thighs and Peter pinning your hands in one of his own.   
  
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to be using this against her later.” he laughed, then, with an evil grin said “I’m gonna try something.” before releasing your arms and standing up.   
You were too busy laughing and shouting obscenities at Yondu while trying to grab his hands with your now free ones to notice Peter walking toward your feet, until you felt him grip your ankle and start undoing your boot. “Nonono! Peheheter dohohon’t!” you ordered, now kicking so fiercely trying to keep him from removing your boot that even Yondu was having trouble staying upright on top of you.   
  
“Damn, kid! What'r ya doing back there?! Yer making her buck like a ts’kheni!” Yondu called behind him, still unrelenting in his attack, as much as you were trying to make him stop. You didn’t know what a ts’kheni was, but if it was anything like an Earth horse, then he wasn’t really too far off in his description.   
  
“Nothing yet!” Peter laughs out. “I havn’t even gotten her boot off yet! But I betcha her feet are real bad with how she’s fighting me!” Three seconds later you hear him cry out “Ah! Got it!” as you feel your boot slide off and hear it thud on the metal floor beneath you.  
  
“NO! Peheheter I’m going to kill you! HAHA” you shout as you feel him lock your ankle in his arm as if in a headlock.  
  
Yondu reached up and began scratching under your arms. “Aww, what’s the matter, princess? Not so tough now?” he taunted as you squirmed and giggled. “Let’s see…” he mused, moving down. “Wasn’t it here that gave ya away?” his fingers now skittering over your hips, right as Peter started in on your foot.  
    
“Don’t! Hey!-” you start but are unable to finish, cut off by Peter giving Yondu pointers.  
  
“Here do it like this there, you’ll get a way better reaction.” He reached up from where he sat by your feet to drill his thumb into your left hipbone, throwing you into hysterics.  
  
“Damn, when yer right, yer right.” he chuckled and repeated Peter’s motions, getting more of the hysterical, deep-belly laughs out of you.   
  
You feel Peter tickling your toes and kick harder trying to throw him off. “Hey, make a note, her toes are another weak spot.”   
  
“STOP HELPING HIM!” you cry out, though you didn’t have a very convincing 'angry’ face right now. You made a mental note to kill them both later for this.   
  
Peter dropped your foot. “Aw isn’t she cute when she’s mad?” he teased, now sitting on top of your shins, pinning your legs together making it nearly impossible for you to kick.   
  
“Yep, I think I just might eat her.” Yondu then proceeded to bend back down to gnaw at your belly and sides some more, without halting his devastation on your hips. You screamed in laughter and could swear you felt Yondu laughing at you through the bites at your abdomen. Your laughter went silent, causing Yondu to momentarily halt his attack. “Damn, Quill, I think I might’ve actually broke her.”  
  
“Nah, she’s fine. You just got her really good and made her laugh silent is all.” Peter said, adding “But it does mean we should give her a minute to breathe.”

You took this moment as an opportunity to suck in some much needed air. You couldn’t remember the last time you had been tickled like this, definitely not since you were a little kid. Perhaps at your friend’s sleepover in the second grade? If you were being honest it wasn’t the worst, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to rig their rooms with stink bombs or something later. Your thoughts were interrupted by Peter speaking.

“See, bet I can make her laugh come back now, look.” he teased. Before you could protest Peter was rapidly squeezing your thigh, right above your knee, making you start to buck and laugh once more.  
  
“I hahate both of y-yhoohoo!” you laugh.  
  
Satisfied, Yondu began skittering his fingers once more over your ribs, moving back down to your hips again.  _Oh god, please not there again._  You thought. You hated yourself for it, but you realize you have no choice but to resort to begging.

“Yon-Yondu HAHAHAhaha! Yondu pleahahase!”  
  
“YonDu PleEAse!” He mocked, laughing. “Told ya there was no mercy, kid. I warned ya.”  
  
“He did warn you.” Star-Lord teased, coming back up towards your head and gently tickling your neck, making you scrunch up your shoulders as you squirmed.  
  
“Please! Ahahaha I-I’m sorrehehehe!”   
  
“Damn, Yondu! You made her beg! Maybe you did break her!” Peter laughed.   
  
“Tell me where my badge is, and this can end.” Yondu eased up the slightest bit, actually taking a little pity on you. Just a tiny bit.  
  
“Ok! Ok! It-it’s underherhehe your mattress! Hahaha.” you manage to get out between giggles.  
  
“Wait, are you serious?” asked Peter incredulously. “You hid it under his  _own_ mattress?”  
  
“I should keep going just for the stupidity of that hiding spot.” Yondu laughed.  
  
“God! Pleahehese no! I told youhoohoo! I told you! HAHAHAHA!” you squeal as Yondu picked back up his pace.  
  
Yondu decided maybe you had enough, but to avoid looking soft he continued, choosing instead to make you work for a way out. “Say yer a whiny baby who got bested by the big bad Yondu!”   
  
“No fair!” you whine.  
  
“Say it!” he demanded before bending back down to gnaw at your belly again.  
  
“OK! OK!” you shriek, pushing on his shoulders in an attempt to make him stop. “I-I got behested by b-big bad Yondu! Hahahaha!”  
  
“And?”  
  
“Please! Come on! Ahahaha!”  
  
“ _And?_ ” he nodded to Peter who pinned your arms above your head again and started tickling under your arms once more.  
  
“AH! And I’m a-a big haha.. a big- AHAhaha!”  
  
“Aw, what’s wrong? Widdle baby being tickled so much she can’t talk?” Peter teased, but eased up just a little, showing mercy.  
  
Yondu eased up a little as well, but continued. “Say it, or I can keep this up all day.” he laughed.  
  
“I-I’m a big hehehe wh-whiny babyhehehe!” You finally manage to squeak out, tears of laughter streaming down your face. “GODPLEASESTOP! Pleahehese! YONDU!”    
  
Yondu decided you had enough and dismounted you and Peter let go of your wrists. You curl into yourself, completely exhausted and breathless. “You’re both dicks.” you laugh.  
  
“Do I hear that you wanna go another round, little missy? Perhaps you need another lesson?” Yondu crosses his arms, giving you a mock-stern look.  
  
“No!” you squeak and the other two laugh. You feel your lids getting heavy. You were so tired after all that. You feel yourself being lifted into the air and see that Yondu has lifted you into his arms. 

“See, just like a baby, ain’t she?” he laughs to Peter. 

“Yep. Adorable.” Peter teases. 

Being too tired to protest, you just curl up against Yondu as he carries you to your room, laying you in your bed.   
He covers you with the blanket. “Goodnight, little girl.” he whispers, turning around to leave the room. 

“G'night dad.” You mumble, too tired for it to even register what you just said. You wouldn’t remember it come morning. 

Yondu freezes. He looks back at you, smiles warmly and moves a strand of hair out of your face. "That’s my girl.“ he whispers before turning and leaving the room to join Peter at the front deck.

Before you completely drifted off you had one last thought.  
  
You were  _ **definitely**_  going to tell Yondu that Peter lied about Terrans outgrowing being ticklish.


	2. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You notice something is wrong, and try to discretely take care of it yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided to make this story a bit longer, and add a twist of interest to it as well. Not to give anything away, but this story will read out a little bit like a mystery to you, the reader, as to different aspects of your character come to light. I’ve not seen it done before, so let’s see together if this works, or if it turns out being dumb.
> 
> Edit: Turns out that my idea wasn't so dumb. I'm 8 chapters in and a lot of people have fallen in love with this story (it existed on other platforms before here). Here's hoping many more enjoy!

You just got back with the team after blasting a giant space creature to hell. Everyone is celebrating. Groot is sitting happily in your lap, now too big to sit on your shoulder, when you suddenly feel your watch vibrate, you look to see what reminder is going off now. 

“ **BR. NOW.** ” it reads.  _“Crap, I almost forgot!”_  you scold yourself. You had been too busy celebrating with everyone else. You gently move Groot to the seat of your chair as you stand and excuse yourself.

“I am Groot?” inquires Groot.

“What are you talking about?” Rocket responds. 

“I am Groot." 

"It’s a just watch. Ya know, people keep time with them? How is her watch weird?” Rocket chides.  

“I am Groot.”

“You’re overthinking it. That would be silly. Come on. I made nachos.” Rocket changes the subject, motioning for Groot to follow and heading toward the food.

You come back to the crew about 5 minutes later, and look at all your friends, which have now become your family, when suddenly you hear a “Boo!” and someone pinching at your sides from behind, all of which cause you to let a small shriek. You pull a fist out of instinct, spin around and just barely stop yourself from punching Yondu in the face, who is now currently laughing his ass off with Peter right behind. 

“Aw man!” laments Peter. “You couldn’t have punched him? I just lost the bet!” he laughs. 

“Told ya, boy! Girl’s got quicker reflexes than that! Just like I taught her!”

“Dude!” You cry out, punching Peter in the arm. “Ass!” but you laugh with them. “You know I’m gonna get you back! Both of you.”

“Really now?” questions Yondu. “Cuz that didn’t exactly work out for ya yesterday, now did it, missy?” both he and Peter laugh as you shudder at the memory. 

“Ugh, would have if you guys didn’t cheat!” you laugh, shoving his shoulder.

“Hey Yondu, does it sound like she wants round two?” Peter grins evilly.

“Sweetheart, don’t go makin’ me break ya down in front of the whole team now.” Yondu cracks his knuckles and laughs.

“Nope, nope. I’m good!” You hold up your hands in surrender, backing up and turning around to walk towards the rest of the team.  You weren’t exactly looking forward to having the whole team know how to “break” you. You assumed once they found out, at least a few would eventually try experimenting with it.  
Seeing as it was apparent Yondu didn’t know what tickling was before Peter came along, you assumed your species was likely the only “ticklish” one. But, then again, the topic never really came up with any other species you encountered. But whether your assumption was correct or not, you kinda thought just him learning about this weakness was enough. After all, it was kind of an unwritten rule back on Earth to never tell anyone you’re ticklish, because again, whoever found out was bound to exploit it.   
You were also biding your time to tell Yondu that Peter lied about Terrans outgrowing their ticklish weakness as they got older in order to have your revenge on him for the day before.

You join the rest of the team in time to hear Rocket telling a joke about a Txerri on Krylor. You laugh with everyone else and turn your head just in time to see Mantis reaching towards you. You avoid her touch, fake a yawn and say “Well I’m tired, I’m gonna head to bed now.” Excusing yourself once more while sidestepping around her, giving her a warm smile as you pass before heading to your room. 

It wasn’t a complete lie, you actually were tired.  You seem to get tired a lot anymore, but hey, fighting bad guys and monsters is hard work.

“I am Groot?” little Groot asks Rocket, while watching you leave.

“What do you mean? No she doesn’t. I’ve never noticed.”

“I am Groot." 

"Well now that you mention it, maybe she does go a little out of her way to avoid Mantis. Or it’s maybe your imagination, like when you thought the orlonies were looking at you funny.”

“I am Groot.” Groot rolls his eyes.   
  
***  
  
You wake up the next morning feeling fine, but go through your morning routine, like always, because you have to. No matter how tedious it is.   
You feel around your mouth, all your teeth feel fine. Your cheeks and tongue also feel fine, no cuts, meaning you didn’t accidentally bite them in your sleep. You’ll check in mirror later just to be sure.  
You pat yourself down, all bones in check, as far as you can tell, nothing seems out of joint.  
Run your fingers through your hair. All still there, still good.   
Check your temperature. 98.8, so no fever, good enough.   
Check joints for swelling. All looks good.  
  


You start to get up out of bed.  _“Woah, must have done that a little too fast.”_  you think as you get a little bit lightheaded, momentarily sitting on the bed again before getting up to head to the mirror to check your eyes, making sure you didn’t scratch a cornea in your sleep. That’s where you got concerned. Your eyes were scratch free, but the whites were yellow.   
 _“Oh no.”_  You thought, looking down at your skin, check to see if it was presenting a yellowish tone, it wasn’t, yet.  _“Ok, maybe it’s not too bad.”_  you thought, but you knew what this meant. Your mother made sure you knew what these signs meant as soon as she started making you do these daily checks when you were 5, six years before you were abducted. You were showing signs of jaundice. You knew that meant your liver was likely failing.  _“Fuck."_

You work to calm yourself down. Taking deep breaths. You knew Peter was going to be landing the ship on Xandar today for supplies. The aliens there are somewhat close to humans, physically speaking. You’d just find a med center when everyone went out. You’d be fine.  It would be ok. 

You open your nightstand and pull out some special sclera lenses you had made a year ago, just in case, as you always were afraid something like this might happen. These weren’t the typical black sclera lenses you’d find on Earth for Halloween, however.   
These, once put in, would just look like your normal eyes, and they weren’t cheap. The man you commissioned to make your lenses looked surprised that someone clearly already Terran-passing would need these lenses, as he usually made these for people of non-Terran alien races who looked Terran enough, but needed lenses to pass as more Terran-Looking if they wanted to go to Earth. However, you had the money and he didn’t question.   
Apparently there was a small market for these lenses for people who wanted to “rough it on Terra,” as it was considered a more primitive planet in the galaxy, but couldn’t fully pass as human. You only even heard these lenses were made by chance in a bar, overhearing two aliens with full black eyes talking about needing to get some “Terran lenses” for their camping trip to Terra. Apparently to most anyone heading to Earth it was pretty well known that the people of your homeworld weren’t exactly welcoming of new alien species, if the whole Roswell incident was anything to judge by. 

Now, one might call it overkill that you’d even think to have a pair of these made, but you called it planning ahead for any possible hiccup in your facade.

You realize anyone in their right mind would think you were crazy for trying to hide jaundice with contacts, but you just couldn’t let the others know what was really wrong. If they knew, they’d treat you different. You always hated that on Earth. You weren’t about to have that here, so you got to work, trying to make yourself look as normal as possible before the others woke up.   
  
***  
  
About two hours later Peter landed the ship on Xandar. And everyone, save for Drax and Kraglin, got out to walk around. You had already looked up on your info pad for the nearest Medical Center and found you could reach it in 15 minutes walking time. Lucky.   
You start to walk in that direction when you hear footsteps crunch on the gravel behind you, and turn to see Yondu following close behind.

"Uh, hi.” You laugh nervously. “Thought you would have went with Peter.”

“Yeah, but thought I’d come check out where yer walkin to all by yerself. That’s not something you normally do, girly.”

“I.. like to try new things.” You lied, fidgeting with your watch. 

“No ya don’t.” Yondu eyed you suspiciously.

“Well, I can start.” you reasoned.

“Well I bet ya won’t mind if I join ya then, will ya.” You could tell that wasn’t a question. He was coming whether you wanted it or not, and so not as to raise suspicions, you give in.

“Um, I guess not.” you say as you continue walking, now with your forced companion.

About halfway to the med center you noticed you were about to head to a busy section of the town, it looked like a marketplace. You silently cheer inside as you realize this is the perfect time to make or find a distraction to get away from Yondu just long enough to be out of eyesight and head to the med center, alone. 

You look around, maybe you could knock over that apple stand? Trip that baker with the overflowing tray of bread? Luckily for you, you didn’t need to think long, as a distraction presented itself for you. Apparently two Xandarian men had gotten into a fight, over what you didn’t care. All you knew is that it worked out in your favor. The fight had made it’s way closer to Yondu and yourself, and one of the men shoved the other into Yondu, pissing him off, and resulting in Yondu getting himself into the fray along with some other Xandarian vendor’s who’s stands were falling victim to damaged goods as the men pushed each other into stands and the like, and some bystanders trying to break it up before it escalated further. You silently cheer for joy at your luck as you take this opportunity to quickly and quietly slip away and run toward the med center.  
  
***  
  
You finally reach the med center and head inside, quickly finding the help desk.  
“Hello. How may I help you?” asked the Xandarian woman at the desk, looking up from her computer.  
  
“Look, I’m going to make this quick.” you say, carefully taking out your sclera lenses. The help desk woman looking at you in shock, clearly not expecting that. “I’m showing signs of jaundice, clearly.” you start, before realizing that you didn’t know if Xandarian medical staff would be well informed on human medical issues. There weren’t exactly a lot of you running around anywhere else but Earth. “Uh, I’m Terran, my scleras are meant to be white, not yellow. In my race it means my liver might be failing. I believe I’m in need of medical attention.”   
The help desk woman gives you a polite smile and says “Yes, miss. Jaundice presents the same way in Xandarians.” in a tone that people use when they believe they are talking to someone stupid, but still want to be polite. She then pages a nurse and you are quickly moved into a triage room. You are instructed to lie on the bed and when you do holograms pop up all around with your vital signs. The nurses observe them for awhile and one places what looks like a fancy pulse oximeter on your finger.  
  
As you lie on the bed you have some time to think. You were so careful, like, you didn’t even drink that much. Yeah you could get drunk with the rest of the team, but still, it wasn’t a common occurrence.  You didn’t understand how your liver could be failing. You are scared. You don’t know what to think, but your thoughts are interrupted anyway when the head nurse begins to speak.   
  
“The signs here show that your jaundice isn’t being caused by a failing liver, but rather by gallstones blocking your bile duct. It’s unusual to find them in someone your age, but it’s easily treatable, we’ll use ultrasound to break up the stones and an endoscope to pull them out. Your jaundice should subside in a few days.”  
  
You sigh a breath of relief, “That’s all? Thank gods.”

“Actually, there is more.” says the head nurse, looking more grim. “The readings are showing another problem.”

“Yeah?” you sit up.

“There seems to be a problem with your heart. We’re going to run some tests while you’re going through the ultrasound treatment and get back to you.”

“Wait? My heart? But I feel fine?” you protest.

“It’s may just be a glitch in the scans, it’s unlikely, but it can happen. We’ll know more after your ultrasound treatment.” she tries to console you right as another nurse rolls in a cart with equipment you didn’t recognize, but assumed to be the ultrasound and scope equipment.

You watch two of the nurses whisper to each other while looking at you as you quickly lose consciousness from the anesthesia mask placed over your face.  
  
***  
  
After finally freeing himself from the fray (fortunately with no authorities getting involved), Yondu realized you were no where to be found, and it didn’t take him long to figure out that you must have taken advantage of the distraction to get away from him.  
“Oh girly… what are ya up to?” he questioned to himself, looking around.  
  
***  
  
You wake up an hour later.  The nurses are looking at your holographic vitals still as a doctor walks into the room.  "So… what’s up doc?“ you joke, mimicing the Bugs Bunny cartoons you used to watch as a child.  You’re trying to hide your concerns with humor, but you become more concerned as the doctor sits on the edge of your bed with a grave expression.   
  
"I regretfully have to inform you that you are in Stage B heart failure, nearly Stage C.”

“What do you mean? How could I be in any stage of heart failure?” you exclaim, you feel like crying. “I feel fine! And I’m young! How? I really feel fine!”

“I’m sure you do, but because of your CIPA-” the doctor started.

“Wait, I never said anything about CIPA. How could you possibly know that?!”

“These scans of course. They are capable of registering genetic anomalies.” The doctor pointed to a spot over your head, though of course it didn’t matter because you couldn’t read the language.  "Right there: Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis. Very rare, but would explain why you never felt the pain of your gallstones or any other symptoms that might be associated with the heart failure, like chest pain.“  
  
You sit there. Numb. (no pun intended)  
"What- What are my options?” You say softly. “Do I… just  _die_  now?" 

"Not quite. I’m prescribing some beta blockers and ACE inhibiters. I recommend regular light exercise, reduced stress, and no alcohol. All this should help slow the progression of the issue getting worse. If it gets worse, the next step is heart transplant.  I recommend you come in for regular checkups to monitor your status.  A person in your condition should already be receiving regular checkups, even with no heart failure, and judging by the fact that this is all clearly a surprise to you, I can only assume that you have not been, as this could have been caught and treated sooner if you had.”

“Yes.” you say blankly. You’re only half-paying attention. The doctor lectures some more before discharging you. You collect your medications and leave, walking almost zombie-like back to the ship. You had just enough presence of mind to put your sclera lenses back in (the nurses said it would take a day or two for your eye color to return to normal) and finish moments before you hear Yondu yelling at you as you turn into an alleyway.   
  
“What the hell, girl?!” he calls angrily, quickly catching up to you. “Ya just run off and don’t say nuthin’?”  
  
You stare at him blank faced. “Sorry, we got separated, and I got turned around.” you lie, suspecting he won’t fall for it. A correct assumption, as he can sense something is wrong and questions you. 

“Girly, ya alright? Ya look pale, did somethin’ happen?”

“I’m fine.” you lie, forcing a chipper tone.

“Come on now, ya know ya can tell me.” He pressed, poking you in the ribs, making you grin and squirm uncontrollably. “Or are ya gonna make me use yer lil’ Terran weakness against ya to coax it outta ya?” he said with a grin.  
  
“Yondu! Hehehe, s-stop it! Haha!” you giggle, swatting his hands away, but only half-heartedly. You might not be completely in the mood for games at the moment, but it did feel good to laugh after what you had just been through, if you were being honest with yourself.  
  
“Nah, don’t think I will. Not ‘til ya tell me what’s wrong.” He laughed as he grabbed one of your wrists and held it above your head in one of his hands to tickle your underarms with the other, causing you to squirm more. Deep belly laughs were now pouring from your mouth as you tried to push him away with your free hand. You’re glad there’s no one around to see this right now as you’re sure you look ridiculous.  
  
“Ah! I-I swear! Hahahaha! Yon-Haha Yondu pleahehese! There’s nothing to tell! AHAhaha!” you writhe under his fingertips and his teasing is just making it worse.    
  
“Come now, I know ya have something to tell me, and I know ya know I don’t do mercy, kid. I can keep this up all day until you do.” he chuckled.  
You knew he meant it, and you get an idea. Through your laughter you manage to squeak out that you’ll tell him a secret if he stops. He stops after confirming it was a good secret and not something lame like what you ate for breakfast this morning or anything like that.  
“Well, spit it out then.” Yondu laughs as he watches you try to gulp down air.  
  
You take a few moments more to catch your breath. “Peter lied. Terrans never outgrow being ticklish.”


	3. On the Bench

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter thinks you’re pushing yourself too hard, and decides to take action. You don’t react to it well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In addition to Yondu being alive, I’ve decided that in this alternate timeline that the Eclector didn’t completely explode in GOTG2, that only half of it was destroyed and has since been nearly rebuilt. This will become important later in the story.

“Go! Go! Go! Come on!” Peter yelled as you, Rocket and Gamora scrambled back into the ship, the ground crumbling away beneath it, the cause being the now dead giant purplish beast crashing to the terrain, right over the underground caves that needless to say did not survive the force of the massive beast crashing to the thin crust separating the tunnels from the surface.  Yondu and Kraglin were able to take off just before the Benatar succumbed to the sinkhole.   
  
You slump in your cockpit chair, your eyelids heavy, watching the others exchange high fives to celebrate the victory as they move to strap into their own seats. You had almost nodded off when Peter gently shook your shoulder. “Hey, you ok?”  
  
You started. “Yeah, I guess I’m just tired.” you smile at him tiredly. “I’m good.”  
  
“Uh huh…” He crossed his arms and gave you a look that said he didn’t believe it, but resigned to just go relieve Kraglin from the pilots seat when it became obvious you weren’t going to say more.  
  
On the way home Rocket noticed you were awfully quiet at his jokes and turned to find you had fallen asleep. He was about to wake you up and complain that you were missing his “hilarious jokes” when Gamora shushed him and told him to let you sleep, that you must have needed it if you just passed out   
  
***  
Upon arriving back at the Eclector you simply bid Peter and the others goodnight before almost immediately retreating to your quarters. Peter saw the exhaustion in your eyes and didn’t argue.  
  
“What’s the matter with her?” Yondu asked Peter as he watched you walk away.  
  
“She’s just… tired.”   
  
Rocket, overhearing this scoffs. “She just slept like 5 hours on the way home! How much more tired could she be?!”  
  
“I am Groot.”  
  
“Yeah, all the time. What gives?” Rocket crosses his arms.  
  
“Does your species require a period of hibernation?” Drax inquires.   
  
“No, Drax.” Peter rolls his eyes. “She’s fine. She probably just pushing herself too hard. It’ll pass.” Peter sounded convincing to just about everyone else but Yondu. Yondu hadn’t spoken to Peter about your running off stunt yet, but he wondered if the two were connected, while Peter, having no knowledge of the event, thought that perhaps he should talk to you about maybe not pushing yourself to exhaustion.  
  
***   
You woke a couple hours later to knocking on your door. “I’m coming! I’m coming.” you call out groggily.  
You stand up from the bed, you didn’t even make it under your blanket before you passed out, and walk to open your door. Peter was standing there.  
  
“Hey, we should talk.” he says as he moves into the room and sits on your bed, motioning you to do the same.  
  
“Ok… what gives?”   
  
“I think you’ve been pushing yourself too hard. After every mission you are completely exhausted, even after small ones.”  
  
“I’m fine.” you try to reassure him, but he isn’t buying it.   
  
“No, you practically passed out today after we beat that big purple bastard.  What if next time you don’t make it out of the fight? I mean, I’m all for giving 110%, but you’re pushing yourself a little too hard if you can’t even stand after a routine fight. I think you should take it easy for awhile. I’m benching you.” He looked at you solemnly. He didn’t want to do this, but he just couldn’t bare the thought of you not making it out of a minor battle alive.  
  
“WHAT!? You can’t do that!” you cry, bolting off the bed. You couldn’t stand being babied, and being completely un-allowed to help your team in battle really pissed you off. You feel hot, angry, tears forming in your eyes.  
  
Peter jumps up and holds you by the shoulders, trying to sooth you. He knew how independent you were and he anticipated that you wouldn’t take this well, though he never thought you would actually cry. He pulls you into a hug. “Look, it’s only for a little while, rest up a bit, I’m sure you’ll be good as new and ready to fight again in no time.”  
  
You begin sobbing into his chest. Not just because you were being shelved like a midfielder past their prime, but because you knew you wouldn’t just “get better.” Yeah, you knew that ultimately this was better for you, it was what that doctor back on Xandar had told you to do in the first place. But you hated it. You hated all this. All your fears coming to reality of people finding out you were sick and treating you like an invilid. Hell, they didn’t even know yet and it was already happening!  
Peter sits you back on the bed and hugs you tighter, stroking the back of your head. He said nothing more, just sat there and held you until you eventually cried yourself to sleep in his arms. It broke his heart, but he knew there was nothing he could’ve said to help it. He gently laid you down on your bed and tucked you in.  "I’m sorry.“ he whispered before standing up to leave, turning back to look upon you one last time, worry painting his features, before closing your door to head to bed himself.  
  
***  
  
Peter sat on the edge of his bed, head in his hands when Yondu walked into his room.  "I think we should talk about that Terran brat ya call yer sister.”    
  
“What? She hide your badge again?” Peter asked, the mirth he tried to add in his voice falling flat, still upset from having to bench you, and making you cry as a result. He hated seeing you upset.  
  
“Nah, but she was actin’ strange on Xandar the other day. She ran off, and then she wouldn’ tell me where she went when I found her again.”  
  
“Weird.” Peter raised an eyebrow, but his face still had all the features of a kid who just lost his balloon. Yondu noticed, and in that moment remembered the one thing you did tell him that day. It had been about a week or two since you had told Yondu about Peter having lied about Terrans being able to outgrow being ticklish, and he had nearly forgotten.   
  
“Ya know, there  _was_  one thing she did tell me though…” He smirked.  
  
“What?” Peter wondered if it had anything to do with your increased exhaustion.  
  
“She told me that ya told me a bit of a fib.”  
  
Peter was taken aback. He couldn’t remember telling a lie to Yondu recently. “What?” he asked, becoming concerned as Yondu turned to close his door.  
  
“Oh, I think you know.” He walked slowly towards Peter, smirking. He cracked his knuckles.  
  
“I really don’t.” Peter’s eyes grew wide as he backed up a couple feet. He wasn’t about to cower away, but he was concerned that he was about to get his ass kicked for something he did, but couldn’t remember. But Yondu hadn’t whistled for his arrow, so that was a good sign.  
  
“Now as I recall, ya said Terrans outgrow that ‘tickling’ thing. But she said that wasn’t true. She said that Terrans  _never_  outgrow it.” His grin was beginning to take on an evil aire as Peter’s eyes grew wide and he paled.   
  
“Shit.” he managed to squeak out. He tried to stammer out something about you not knowing what you were talking about to save his own skin, but he severely failed at being any kind of convincing.   
When he had managed to convince Yondu of this lie the first time he barely succeeded. The only saving grace he had was the fact that Yondu wouldn’t know any better if Terrans outgrew it or not. And luckily twenty seconds of Peter clenching his jaw and not laughing was all it took before Yondu got bored and was convinced that his “Terran weakness” didn’t work anymore.   
Thing is, Peter, though not as bad as you, as Yondu had pointed out, was still pretty ticklish. Had Yondu chosen to keep it up for literally just 10 seconds more Peter would have broken and his ruse would have failed. He knew he didn’t stand a chance now.  
  
“Y-Yondu… C-come on buddy.” He stammered, backing up a bit more and raising his hands in defense.  
  
“Remember what I used to do when ya fibbed, boy? 'Cause I do.” Yondu chuckled with an evil grin as he stepped forward.  
  
***  
Peter remembered. Once when he was a boy he thought he had accidentally broken one of Yondu’s dash trinkets and tried to hide it. Of course, Yondu found out and confronted him in his quarters.   
  
“Boy, did ya break this?” He glared down at Peter, who shook his head. “Really now, 'cause Kraglin told me he saw ya hiding these broken bits behind the boiler.” At this, Peter bowed his head, prepared to receive a whooping, or extra chores, or whatever his punishment would be this time. “I won’t tolerate no lyin, boy. Now I gots to come up with a punishment.” Though he didn’t really intend to punish him very hard.   
It just so happened that Yondu knew this particular dash trinket was already broken, and the head was just resting on it’s body. When Peter picked it up to examine it, naturally the head fell off and he assumed he broke it and tried to hide the evidence. When Yondu found out he actually laughed, but decided to scare Peter up a bit so he wouldn’t think he could just get away with this all the time. He pretended to think for awhile before exclaiming “Guess I’ll be eatin’ Terran tonight!”   
Little Peter looked up in fright, thinking this might actually be the day he get’s eaten before Yondu picked him up, threw him on the bed and began gnawing on his belly. Peter shrieked in laughter.   
  
“No! Nohoho! Pleahehese! Not that! Hahaha! I’ll take the whooping! Please! HAHAHAHA Not there!” Peter begged as he thrashed around.  
  
“I dunno, this seems purty effective.” Yondu laughed, switching from gnawing to wiggling his fingers into Peter’s belly. “This lil Terran weakness seems to make you offer just about anything to get it to stop.”  
  
“No! No! P-please hahahahaha! DAD! NO!!! Ahahahaha!” He hadn’t meant to call Yondu 'dad’ of course, it just kind of slipped out, but it caught Yondu’s attention, and he slowed his tickling.   
  
“What was that? Not sure I caught that?” Yondu laughed and pulled Peter in and gave him a noogie.   
  
“Ah! No! Quit!” Peter cried, still laughing. Yondu stood and gave Peter a playful shove before walking toward the door, choosing to not to press Peter’s slip to spare him further blushes on the matter.  
  
“Just make sure ya don’t fib to me again, or it’ll be worse next time!” Yondu playfully scolded.   
  
“So I can keep breaking your dash toys as long as I’m honest about it?” Peter quipped, receiving a sharp look from Yondu. “Ok! Point taken!” He put up his hands in defense.  
Yondu simply shook his head and chuckled as he turned and left.  
  
***  
  
“Common, Yondu, do you blame me?” Peter tried to reason, trying, and failing, to hide that he was already giggling in nervous anticipation. Yondu only took another step closer. “Um, Y-You’ll wake up the team!”   
  
“Well, boy, if ya think yer gonna squeal like a baby girl then I guess I can spare one hand to cover yer mouth.” Yondu laughed. Peter had backed up until he was stoped when the back of his legs hit his bed. Yondu stopped advancing, now standing about a foot away from Peter. “Ya know, watchin ya act like a scared little mouse is funny enough for tonight.” He laughed. “I’m heading to bed.” he made to turn toward the door.  
  
Peter let a sigh of relief. “Really?”  
  
“Nope.” Yondu stated before turning back around and quickly lunging towards Peter.   
  
Peter shrieked and fell backwards onto his bed, scrunching his eyes and holding his hands out in front of him in anticipation of an attack. But nothing happened. He heard Yondu laughing and sheepishly peeked up.   
  
Yondu was doubled over holding his side and slapping his knee, laughing hysterically. “Ya- ya should have seen yer face! HAHA!” he could barely catch his breath his was laughing so hard. Peter blushed and told him to shut it as he threw his pillow at him, and missed. But Peter was grinning now, and that was good enough for Yondu. He left, still laughing, calling back threats to actually carry through if Peter didn’t “behave”, as he used to do when Peter was a child.  
  
Peter got up to retrieve his pillow and closed his door before retiring to bed.   
But his thoughts couldn’t help but to return to you and how upset you were earlier in the night. He wondered if maybe he was being overprotective of you but decided to put off further thoughts of it until morning.  
  
***  
  
The next day you were particularly quiet, and hardly left your quarters. You didn’t feel like speaking to anyone, so it was just as well. You assumed that the others took notice of this and asked Peter because you noticed Groot looking into your room with sad, concerned eyes.   
You shut your door after that, you loved Groot and had nothing against him, but you didn’t want the others’ pity or for anyone to try and get you to talk about it.   
  
Your watch buzzed, telling you it was time to take your medication again. You looked at the bottle for a moment before throwing it back in your drawer. You felt like your life was falling apart, so fuck it. Fuck it all. You made the decision right then to just stop taking them. If you couldn’t live a normal life (as normal life as a Guardian of the Galaxy could have, that is.) then maybe what was the point in living?   
You weren’t sure if this was suicide or letting nature take it’s course, but it made you feel better to think of it as the latter.   
  
You didn’t know how long you had left or how fast this heart condition could get worse, but you tried not to care. Tomorrow you’d try to convince Peter you were feeling much better, maybe he’d take back what he said and un-bench you. But for now, you were just going to lie back and blare out your eardrums to your music like a sullen teenager.


	4. Do it for Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team find out what you’ve been keeping from them.

You woke up to see Peter sitting in a chair across from your bed. “Um, hey?” you sit up and stare at him groggily.   
  
“Making sure you don’t run away. Ya know, just in case.” he stood and stretched. You would have argued that he was paranoid, but honestly, his concerns weren’t without merit.  
  
“I’m not going to run away.” you sigh, sitting up in bed. You were glad you were still wearing long sleeves. Like you thought, you did need a few stitches where you cut your arm in battle the day before, but obviously the others didn’t know that. “Geeze, did you wait there all night?”  
  
“No, I got up and came back in here maybe an hour ago. But before I went to bed I did rig your door with a bunch of beer cans so I could hear if you got up.” He chuckled as you threw your pillow at him. “But I’m also here to make sure you take these.” He tossed your medicine bottles at you. You caught them and sighed, no point in arguing. You took them with the water on your beside table.   
  
“Happy?”   
  
“Yeah. C'mon, get dressed. We’re leaving after breakfast.” he threw your pillow back at you before leaving your room and closing the door back behind him. You sigh yet again. Time to perform your morning ritual. You took a little longer than normal, delaying having to face the other’s again.  
Teeth were all still in place, no swelling or bleeding in your gums either, and no cuts in your mouth or tounge, meaning you hadn’t bit yourself during the night. Your eyes looked normal, good sign that you hadn’t scratched them in your sleep. All your hair still was on your head, so you hadn’t accidentally pulled it in your sleep either. No joint swelling, good.  No fever either, and your stitches still looked good, no infection. You ran out of things to check after a while and decided it was time to get dressed and join the others for breakfast.  
  
***  
  
Breakfast had been… well… quiet, and awkward. Everyone was staring at you, but doing that thing where they were trying to appear like they weren’t. Pity and concern lined their faces. You ate your food in silence, barely looking at anyone, just wanting to finish so Peter could drag you to the medical center.   
  
When it came time to leave Yondu stated that he would be coming too, which was unexpected, but again you weren’t going to argue. You were going to go in, get checked out, tell them the doctor said you were doing better and head out. You stood and they both walked you out of the ship to head to the medical center. Ironically, you felt like an inmate being lead down death row.   
The walk to the medical center was equally quiet and awkward, it felt like it took hours, though you knew it was only about 20 minutes because you kept nervously looking at your watch. When you finally arrive you stare up at the building towering before you and take a shaky breath.

Yondu gave you a gentle push. “Go on now. Don’t be nervous. You agreed to this, remember?”  
  
“Yeah, we’re here for you.” Peter put his arm around your shoulders and guided you up the stairs to the entrance.  
  
Peter did most of the talking once inside, you zoned out after you realized you didn’t need to fill out any forms. It was odd, but they didn’t make you do so on Xandar either. Maybe aliens just didn’t care about paperwork as much as Terrans? Within 15 minutes you were in a waiting room chair, nervously fidgeting with your watch. Peter joined you and Yondu about 10 minutes later, Peter sitting on one side and Yondu on the other, probably both still assuming you’d try to run, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t still considering it.  
  
Some time later a nurse called your name to take you back to a room. You noticed Peter and Yondu follow you. “Um, guys? They’re not going to let you back in the room.” You had been to the doctor enough as a child that you picked up different terms such as ‘HIPPA Laws’, and only assumed a society this advanced would have similar laws in place.   
  
“Yeah, no. I might have told the nurse at the front you were terrified of doctors and would have a breakdown and pee your pants if we didn’t stay with you. Slipping her an extra 100 units might have helped too.” Peter informed you quietly.  
  
“You told them WHAT?!” you glared at him, wanting to smack him. You could hear Yondu snorting about it behind the two of you.  
  
“Ah ah ah. Yelling will only make them believe me more.” he held up his hands in defense.   
  
You huffed in response and continued to follow the nurse down the hallway. Well, there went your whole 'Tell them you’re fine when you finished’ plan. Wouldn’t exactly work with them in the examination room with you. “You couldn’t have at least chosen a less embarrassing lie?” you muttered.   
  
“Nope.” Peter chuckled and clapped you on the back. You were so going to get him back for that.  
  
You reach the room and the nurse instructs you to sit on the examination table. After a few more awkward minutes of you glaring at Peter, the doctor walks in, holding a tablet, and introduces himself.   
“Hello, I’m Dr. Mereet. This is your first time visiting this Medical center, yes?” You nod and he places what looks like a fancy pulse oximeter on your finger, similar to the one the nurse on Xandar used when you went to the Xandarian medical center because your eyes were showing jaundice.   
  
You raise an eyebrow and look at Peter after a couple minutes of silence. Shouldn’t the doctor be asking questions? Or examining? Or something? Peter merely shrugs in response, as if he could read the questions playing out on your face. Suddenly you hear a beep come from the doctor’s tablet. “Ah! There we go!” He looks at the screen. “Sorry, it takes awhile when the records need to be transmitted interplanetarily.”  
  
“Um, records?” you question. You didn’t have any records as far as you were aware. The only medical center you had been in since Earth was on Xandar, and you didn’t fill out any paperwork to leave any record behind. You also really doubted they were getting your medical records from Earth, for obvious reasons.   
  
“Yes. The fingerprint reader allows for medical records to be recorded and then traced across the galaxy wherever used in a center that equips the devices.” The doctor says cheerfully before continuing. “I see in your history you visited a center on Xandar for jaundice, the cause seemed to be gallstones… That issue seems to have been fixed the same day.”  
  
 _'Please stop talking.’_  you mentally beg, already guessing this doctor was going to unwittingly spill your life story, but praying he didn’t.  
  
“Oh, and I see here the same day you were diagnosed with late Stage B heart failure. Prescribed beta blockers and ACE inhibiters for the condition, is that right?”  
  
You nod, looking at the floor.  _'Dear gods, are you done yet?’  
_  
“Oh, almost missed this here. It says here that scans recorded the genetic anomaly C.I.P.A. Ah! That would explain why here it’s written that you went in with all those issues without expressing any discomfort.”  
  
 _'Fuck. Dammit!’_ You look at the doctor, purposely avoiding Peter’s and Yondu’s eyes burning a hole into your soul. “Yes… Yes that is correct.” youmassage the bridge of your nose.  _'Shit. I’m in for it now.’  
_  
“Doc, could you explain to us what C.I.P.A is? My sister here has only recently chosen to become forthcoming with her medical issues, but I’m beginning to see that that she’s still withholding most of the iceberg.” Peter stared at you, his eyes narrowed.  
  
“Unfortunately I can only do that with her consent, Unless you’re her guardians?” he looked startled, as if he only just realized he was spilling a patient’s life story in front of an audience.   
  
“Nope!” you pipe up. “Not my guardians! I don’t give consent.”  
  
“I apologize then, I’ve already said more than I should then. I shouldn’t have assumed. Unless you can prove to me that she is unfit and needs a guardian to process her medical decisions, I’ll need to ask you to leave the room.”  
  
“Oh-ho! Well how 'bout this!” Yondu chimed in, handing over your medications. He had apparently raided your room while you were eating breakfast, and must have been why he decided to tag along. “She stopped takin’ her meds. She practically tried committin’ suicide. Go ahead. Count the pills. Look at the date they were given to her. It proves it.”  
  
“I see…” The doctor looked over the bottles and then eyed you up and down. “From this evidence it’s my professional opinion that you do need the supervision of a guardian regarding your medical care. I’ll make an note in your chart listing your brother as such.” he nodded towards Peter.   
  
“Wait, you can do that? Isn’t there at least some paperwork?” you give the doctor an exasperated look.   
  
“In cases such as yours, with appropriate proof, yes.”    
  
You groaned.   
  
“So you can explain to me what this C.I.P.A is?” Peter asked, looking at you as you glared at him.  
  
“Yes, it’s Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis. A very rare inherited disorder. In short, she cannot feel pain or differentiate between extreme temperatures. "Anhidrosis” means she does not sweat, so if in a hot environment she could easily overheat, because she doesn’t have the ability to sweat to cool her down. Basically she cannot feel  _any_  real nerve-related sensations, such as the need to urinate. However, she can still feel pressure, she can still feel touch, or an itch, or pleasant sensations, but that’s about it.“  
  
"Wait, so all this time when we wrestled and you were all like "OW! OW! OW!” and gave up you were faking?“ Peter looked confused.  
  
"I didn’t want to take the chance of you accidentally breaking my arm or something.” You sheepishly confess, frowning.  
  
“Hold on, he said ya can’t even feel when ya gotta take a piss? How do ya ever do anythin’?” Yondu looked confused as well.  
  
You could just tell you were beginning to blush and you gritted your teeth as you spoke. “I have an alarm on my watch to remind me.”  _'Now please shut it!’_ you mentally scream at him, hoping this embarrassment would end soon.   
  
“Well, it seems like you usually take precautions, that’s good.” The doctor types more into the tablet. “But unfortunately with the evidence regarding your mental state as of late I have no choice but to recommend to your guardian that we install a Braiteoir Pian System.”  
  
“What’s that?” you inquire nervously.  
  
“We’ll take this chip,” He brings up a hologram of the device on his tablet. “and insert on into the base of your skull along your spine. We would do the same with another chip into a willing participant. It was originally invented by a female Shi'ar living in in the Hunyoc Star system to allow males to experience the pain of childbirth.   
Now, you cannot feel pain, and unfortunately the technology to develop a solution to your condition does not yet exist, because there just simply aren’t enough people with this condition to test treatments on and central nervous systems are very complex. This is the next best solution. It will allow a volunteer to feel your pain for you. If you’re over exerting yourself the volunteer will feel the chest pains and notify you. It will also help prevent any major injuries, accidental or… otherwise.” he gave you an accusatory look.   
“It will also serve a great purpose when and if it becomes apparent that you have deteriorated enough to need a heart transplant. Any other being would feel the pain of post-surgery and realize what they could and could not do to aggravate the wounds during the healing process. You, however, would not feel this pain and would be of high risk of post-operation injury or fatality. Luckily, for now you do not need immediate surgery, as compatible Terran hearts are hard to come by, leaving cybernetic hearts as the only viable option for someone of your race, if one can afford it. However, I would still recommend installing the system for both current and future use.”   
  
“I do  _not_  consent.” You say quickly, glaring at Peter before he could get any ideas.  
  
“Unfourtunately that decision is no longer up to you, but to your guardian, I’m afraid.” He nods at Peter once again before turning to speak to him.  "The decision is up to you, sir. What would you like to do.“  
  
"I-I think it’s a good idea.” Peter looked at you apologetically.   
  
“Alright, and would you like to be her volunteer? As I stated you would be feeling any pain that she cannot feel herself. Since she’s-”  
  
You cut off the doctor. “Peter no! Don’t do this, please.” You hop off the table angrily, nearly pleading with him.   
  
“Look, after what you pulled you leave me no choice!” he scolded, standing up as well.  
  
“What are you now? My dad? You’ve already got enough crap to deal with, you don’t need this on top of it!” you were practically yelling now.  
  
“Miss, please, in your condition you should really shouldn’t be elevating your stress levels like this. I need to ask you to calm down.” the doctor warned, gently trying to get you to sit back down on the examination table, but you weren’t having it, continuing to argue with Peter.   
  
“I just want to make sure you’re ok,” Peter argued. “and if this is the only way to do it then so be it! I care about you and I’m not about to lose you!” his voice cracked.  
  
“How are you supposed to do your job when you have to constantly worry about me?! Maybe if you’d just let me go you-”  
  
“Ma'am if you don’t settle down I’m afraid I’ll need to give you a sedative.” With a final firm, but gentle, push the doctor, along with Yondu’s help, finally got you to sit back down and you relented.  
  
“Hows 'bout a compromise?” You turn to see Yondu staring at you sternly, still with a firm grip on your shoulder. “I was a Kree battle slave for twenty years. There’s no pain that ya could go through that’ll phase me. I’ll be yer volunteer.”  
  
“But-”  
  
“No buts, missy. This is happenin. Ya know Peter isn’t going to let up, and I agree with him. Ya no longer get to say no. I get it, ya don’t want him to do it 'cause yer scared of him feelin’ the pain. You’re scared what’ll it’ll be like for him because you’ve never felt it. But it’s either him or me, and we all know a little pain isn’t going hurt me.” he looks at Peter. “I’ll be her volunteer.”  
  
Peter walks towards you and cups your face in his hands, raising your eyes to meet his. “Please, if not me, let it at  least be him. We care about you, ok? We just want to help. You won’t be able to feel yourself hurting, but someone needs to or you won’t know something is wrong until it’s too late. I get it, you’ve had this under control for years, you think you can manage on your own, but it’s time to share the load, let us help.  If you won’t do it for you, do it for us? Please?"   
  
You look into the eyes of your oldest friend, the man you considered a brother. You can see the pain and concern in his eyes and the fear of losing you lining his face. You hated seeing him like this. You hated that you were doing this to him. You wished you could just make it all end. That you could disappear and he wouldn’t have to hurt anymore because he wouldn’t need to worry about you anymore.   
  
You just wanted to die.  
  
You just…   
  
You just…  
  
You remembered your mother. Disappearing is  _exactly_  what you did to her. She loved you more than anything. She always told you that; that her and daddy loved you more than anything.   
And you just disappeared. She was never going to get any closure. Your parent’s were never going to know where you went. You knew that they were going to spend the rest of their lives destroyed that they lost their little girl and that she would never be found.  
  
And it was your fault.   
  
Yes, you knew any sane person would never blame you for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when you were abducted, but you knew different. You always blamed yourself. If you… if you hadn’t run away that day… if you hadn’t gotten angry at your mother for 'babying’ you over another silly stupid fall and had just let her take you to the hosital to be checked out, again… then maybe you wouldn’t have been in the park that evening. Maybe you wouldn’t have been ripped from your home planet, screaming for your mother. A mother who would never see you again because you just  _had_  to fecking run away when all she did was try her best to care for you, to make sure you weren’t hurt.   
When all she did was… what Peter was trying to do now.   
You couldn’t do that again. Not to him. Not to Yondu. You had a whole team that was now like your family, and this time you weren’t going to run. You were going to stay. For them. For Peter.   
  
With a shaky breath, you pull his hands away from your face and hold them, taking your gaze down, and nod.   
  
"Fine.”


	5. An Offer You Can’t Refuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has demanded you go to a hospital and get checked out. The doctor offers a solution to one of your problems that you can’t refuse.

You woke up to see Peter sitting in a chair across from your bed. “Um, hey?” you sit up and stare at him groggily. 

“Making sure you don’t run away. Ya know, just in case.” he stood and stretched. You would have argued that he was paranoid, but honestly, his concerns weren’t without merit.

“I’m not going to run away.” you sigh, sitting up in bed. You were glad you were still wearing long sleeves. Like you thought, you did need a few stitches where you cut your arm in battle the day before, but obviously the others didn’t know that. “Geeze, did you wait there all night?”

“No, I got up and came back in here maybe an hour ago. But before I went to bed I did rig your door with a bunch of beer cans so I could hear if you got up.” He chuckled as you threw your pillow at him. “But I’m also here to make sure you take these.” He tossed your medicine bottles at you. You caught them and sighed, no point in arguing. You took them with the water on your beside table. 

“Happy?” 

“Yeah. C'mon, get dressed. We’re leaving after breakfast.” he threw your pillow back at you before leaving your room and closing the door back behind him. You sigh yet again. Time to perform your morning ritual. You took a little longer than normal, delaying having to face the other’s again.  
Teeth were all still in place, no swelling or bleeding in your gums either, and no cuts in your mouth or tounge, meaning you hadn’t bit yourself during the night. Your eyes looked normal, good sign that you hadn’t scratched them in your sleep. All your hair still was on your head, so you hadn’t accidentally pulled it in your sleep either. No joint swelling, good. No fever either, and your stitches still looked good, no infection. You ran out of things to check after a while and decided it was time to get dressed and join the others for breakfast.

***

Breakfast had been… well… quiet, and awkward. Everyone was staring at you, but doing that thing where they were trying to appear like they weren’t. Pity and concern lined their faces. You ate your food in silence, barely looking at anyone, just wanting to finish so Peter could drag you to the medical center. 

When it came time to leave Yondu stated that he would be coming too, which was unexpected, but again you weren’t going to argue. You were going to go in, get checked out, tell them the doctor said you were doing better and head out. You stood and they both walked you out of the ship to head to the medical center. Ironically, you felt like an inmate being lead down death row.   
The walk to the medical center was equally quiet and awkward, it felt like it took hours, though you knew it was only about 20 minutes because you kept nervously looking at your watch. When you finally arrive you stare up at the building towering before you and take a shaky breath.

Yondu gave you a gentle push. “Go on now. Don’t be nervous. You agreed to this, remember?”

“Yeah, we’re here for you.” Peter put his arm around your shoulders and guided you up the stairs to the entrance.

Peter did most of the talking once inside, you zoned out after you realized you didn’t need to fill out any forms. It was odd, but they didn’t make you do so on Xandar either. Maybe aliens just didn’t care about paperwork as much as Terrans? Within 15 minutes you were in a waiting room chair, nervously fidgeting with your watch. Peter joined you and Yondu about 10 minutes later, Peter sitting on one side and Yondu on the other, probably both still assuming you’d try to run, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t still considering it.

Some time later a nurse called your name to take you back to a room. You noticed Peter and Yondu follow you. “Um, guys? They’re not going to let you back in the room.” You had been to the doctor enough as a child that you picked up different terms such as ‘HIPPA Laws’, and only assumed a society this advanced would have similar laws in place. 

“Yeah, no. I might have told the nurse at the front you were terrified of doctors and would have a breakdown and pee your pants if we didn’t stay with you. Slipping her an extra 100 units might have helped too.” Peter informed you quietly.

“You told them WHAT?!” you glared at him, wanting to smack him. You could hear Yondu snorting about it behind the two of you.

“Ah ah ah. Yelling will only make them believe me more.” he held up his hands in defense. 

You huffed in response and continued to follow the nurse down the hallway. Well, there went your whole 'Tell them you’re fine when you finished’ plan. Wouldn’t exactly work with them in the examination room with you. “You couldn’t have at least chosen a less embarrassing lie?” you muttered. 

“Nope.” Peter chuckled and clapped you on the back. You were so going to get him back for that.

You reach the room and the nurse instructs you to sit on the examination table. After a few more awkward minutes of you glaring at Peter, the doctor walks in, holding a tablet, and introduces himself.   
“Hello, I’m Dr. Mereet. This is your first time visiting this Medical center, yes?” You nod and he places what looks like a fancy pulse oximeter on your finger, similar to the one the nurse on Xandar used when you went to the Xandarian medical center because your eyes were showing jaundice. 

You raise an eyebrow and look at Peter after a couple minutes of silence. Shouldn’t the doctor be asking questions? Or examining? Or something? Peter merely shrugs in response, as if he could read the questions playing out on your face. Suddenly you hear a beep come from the doctor’s tablet. “Ah! There we go!” He looks at the screen. “Sorry, it takes awhile when the records need to be transmitted interplanetarily.”

“Um, records?” you question. You didn’t have any records as far as you were aware. The only medical center you had been in since Earth was on Xandar, and you didn’t fill out any paperwork to leave any record behind. You also really doubted they were getting your medical records from Earth, for obvious reasons. 

“Yes. The fingerprint reader allows for medical records to be recorded and then traced across the galaxy wherever used in a center that equips the devices.” The doctor says cheerfully before continuing. “I see in your history you visited a center on Xandar for jaundice, the cause seemed to be gallstones… That issue seems to have been fixed the same day.”

'Please stop talking.’ you mentally beg, already guessing this doctor was going to unwittingly spill your life story, but praying he didn’t.

“Oh, and I see here the same day you were diagnosed with late Stage B heart failure. Prescribed beta blockers and ACE inhibiters for the condition, is that right?”

You nod, looking at the floor. 'Dear gods, are you done yet?’ 

“Oh, almost missed this here. It says here that scans recorded the genetic anomaly C.I.P.A. Ah! That would explain why here it’s written that you went in with all those issues without expressing any discomfort.”

'Fuck. Dammit!’ You look at the doctor, purposely avoiding Peter’s and Yondu’s eyes burning a hole into your soul. “Yes… Yes that is correct.” you massage the bridge of your nose. 'Shit. I’m in for it now.’

“Doc, could you explain to us what C.I.P.A is? My sister here has only recently chosen to become forthcoming with her medical issues, but I’m beginning to see that that she’s still withholding most of the iceberg.” Peter stared at you, his eyes narrowed.

“Unfortunately I can only do that with her consent, Unless you’re her guardians?” he looked startled, as if he only just realized he was spilling a patient’s life story in front of an audience. 

“Nope!” you pipe up. “Not my guardians! I don’t give consent.”

“I apologize then, I’ve already said more than I should then. I shouldn’t have assumed. Unless you can prove to me that she is unfit and needs a guardian to process her medical decisions, I’ll need to ask you to leave the room.”

“Oh-ho! Well how 'bout this!” Yondu chimed in, handing over your medications. He had apparently raided your room while you were eating breakfast, and must have been why he decided to tag along. “She stopped takin’ her meds. She practically tried committin’ suicide. Go ahead. Count the pills. Look at the date they were given to her. It proves it.”

“I see…” The doctor looked over the bottles and then eyed you up and down. “From this evidence it’s my professional opinion that you do need the supervision of a guardian regarding your medical care. I’ll make an note in your chart listing your brother as such.” he nodded towards Peter. 

“Wait, you can do that? Isn’t there at least some paperwork?” you give the doctor an exasperated look. 

“In cases such as yours, with appropriate proof, yes.” 

You groaned. 

“So you can explain to me what this C.I.P.A is?” Peter asked, looking at you as you glared at him.

“Yes, it’s Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis. A very rare inherited disorder. In short, she cannot feel pain or differentiate between extreme temperatures. "Anhidrosis” means she does not sweat, so if in a hot environment she could easily overheat, because she doesn’t have the ability to sweat to cool her down. Basically she cannot feel any real nerve-related sensations, such as the need to urinate. However, she can still feel pressure, she can still feel touch, or an itch, or pleasant sensations, but that’s about it.“

"Wait, so all this time when we wrestled and you were all like "OW! OW! OW!” and gave up you were faking?“ Peter looked confused.

"I didn’t want to take the chance of you accidentally breaking my arm or something.” You sheepishly confess, frowning.

“Hold on, he said ya can’t even feel when ya gotta take a piss? How do ya ever do anythin’?” Yondu looked confused as well.

You could just tell you were beginning to blush and you gritted your teeth as you spoke. “I have an alarm on my watch to remind me.” 'Now please shut it!’ you mentally scream at him, hoping this embarrassment would end soon. 

“Well, it seems like you usually take precautions, that’s good.” The doctor types more into the tablet. “But unfortunately with the evidence regarding your mental state as of late I have no choice but to recommend to your guardian that we install a Braiteoir Pian System.”

“What’s that?” you inquire nervously.

“We’ll take this chip,” He brings up a hologram of the device on his tablet. “and insert on into the base of your skull along your spine. We would do the same with another chip into a willing participant. It was originally invented by a female Shi'ar living in in the Hunyoc Star system to allow males to experience the pain of childbirth.   
Now, you cannot feel pain, and unfortunately the technology to develop a solution to your condition does not yet exist, because there just simply aren’t enough people with this condition to test treatments on and central nervous systems are very complex. This is the next best solution. It will allow a volunteer to feel your pain for you. If you’re over exerting yourself the volunteer will feel the chest pains and notify you. It will also help prevent any major injuries, accidental or… otherwise.” he gave you an accusatory look.   
“It will also serve a great purpose when and if it becomes apparent that you have deteriorated enough to need a heart transplant. Any other being would feel the pain of post-surgery and realize what they could and could not do to aggravate the wounds during the healing process. You, however, would not feel this pain and would be of high risk of post-operation injury or fatality. Luckily, for now you do not need immediate surgery, as compatible Terran hearts are hard to come by, leaving cybernetic hearts as the only viable option for someone of your race, if one can afford it. However, I would still recommend installing the system for both current and future use.” 

“I do not consent.” You say quickly, glaring at Peter before he could get any ideas.

“Unfourtunately that decision is no longer up to you, but to your guardian, I’m afraid.” He nods at Peter once again before turning to speak to him. "The decision is up to you, sir. What would you like to do.“

"I-I think it’s a good idea.” Peter looked at you apologetically. 

“Alright, and would you like to be her volunteer? As I stated you would be feeling any pain that she cannot feel herself. Since she’s-”

You cut off the doctor. “Peter no! Don’t do this, please.” You hop off the table angrily, nearly pleading with him. 

“Look, after what you pulled you leave me no choice!” he scolded, standing up as well.

“What are you now? My dad? You’ve already got enough crap to deal with, you don’t need this on top of it!” you were practically yelling now.

“Miss, please, in your condition you should really shouldn’t be elevating your stress levels like this. I need to ask you to calm down.” the doctor warned, gently trying to get you to sit back down on the examination table, but you weren’t having it, continuing to argue with Peter. 

“I just want to make sure you’re ok,” Peter argued. “and if this is the only way to do it then so be it! I care about you and I’m not about to lose you!” his voice cracked.

“How are you supposed to do your job when you have to constantly worry about me?! Maybe if you’d just let me go you-”

“Ma'am if you don’t settle down I’m afraid I’ll need to give you a sedative.” With a final firm, but gentle, push the doctor, along with Yondu’s help, finally got you to sit back down and you relented.

“Hows 'bout a compromise?” You turn to see Yondu staring at you sternly, still with a firm grip on your shoulder. “I was a Kree battle slave for twenty years. There’s no pain that ya could go through that’ll phase me. I’ll be yer volunteer.”

“But-”

“No buts, missy. This is happenin. Ya know Peter isn’t going to let up, and I agree with him. Ya no longer get to say no. I get it, ya don’t want him to do it 'cause yer scared of him feelin’ the pain. You’re scared what’ll it’ll be like for him because you’ve never felt it. But it’s either him or me, and we all know a little pain isn’t going hurt me.” he looks at Peter. “I’ll be her volunteer.”

Peter walks towards you and cups your face in his hands, raising your eyes to meet his. “Please, if not me, let it at least be him. We care about you, ok? We just want to help. You won’t be able to feel yourself hurting, but someone needs to or you won’t know something is wrong until it’s too late. I get it, you’ve had this under control for years, you think you can manage on your own, but it’s time to share the load, let us help. If you won’t do it for you, do it for us? Please?" 

You look into the eyes of your oldest friend, the man you considered a brother. You can see the pain and concern in his eyes and the fear of losing you lining his face. You hated seeing him like this. You hated that you were doing this to him. You wished you could just make it all end. That you could disappear and he wouldn’t have to hurt anymore because he wouldn’t need to worry about you anymore. 

You just wanted to die.

You just… 

You just…

You remembered your mother. Disappearing is exactly what you did to her. She loved you more than anything. She always told you that; that her and daddy loved you more than anything.   
And you just disappeared. She was never going to get any closure. Your parent’s were never going to know where you went. You knew that they were going to spend the rest of their lives destroyed that they lost their little girl and that she would never be found.

And it was your fault. 

Yes, you knew any sane person would never blame you for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when you were abducted, but you knew different. You always blamed yourself. If you… if you hadn’t run away that day… if you hadn’t gotten angry at your mother for 'babying’ you over another silly stupid fall and had just let her take you to the hosital to be checked out, again… then maybe you wouldn’t have been in the park that evening. Maybe you wouldn’t have been ripped from your home planet, screaming for your mother. A mother who would never see you again because you just had to fecking run away when all she did was try her best to care for you, to make sure you weren’t hurt.   
When all she did was… what Peter was trying to do now.   
You couldn’t do that again. Not to him. Not to Yondu. You had a whole team that was now like your family, and this time you weren’t going to run. You were going to stay. For them. For Peter. 

With a shaky breath, you pull his hands away from your face and hold them, taking your gaze down, and nod. 

"Fine.”


	6. Something No One Expected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yondu has become your guinea pig and the Doctor performs the procedure. However, something happens after that neither of you had in mind.

“Don’t be nervous, it’s gonna be fine.” Yondu half comforts, half teases you as Doctor Mereet leads you both down a long hallway to the procedure room where you were going to have a Braiteoir Pian System installed in the base of your skull, near you spinal cord. This was a procedure that would allow Yondu to feel pain for you, since you could not. Since the procedure only needed to be performed on Yondu and yourself, Peter opted to just wait in the waiting room. The doctor said it would only take a matter of minutes and you would be treated as outpatient anyway.   
  
“I’m not.” You lie, fidgeting with your watch as Yondu gives you a knowing look, you always fidgeted when you were nervous and he knew it.   
  
A few moments later you reach the room and the doctor leads you both inside and motioned for you to sit. It looked very similar to the other room with the exception that there were many more gadgets lining the shelves, and an odd chair in the center of the room resembling a chair one might sit in backwards when getting a chair massage. Yondu was instructed to sit in the chair first.   
Dr. Mereet had explained earlier that the procedure would only require a local anesthetic and a very tiny incision in where the chip would be implanted, resulting in one or two stiches. The system could be as temporary or as permanent as you wished it to be, but either way it still needed to be installed under the skin to have access to your nervous system and to provide protection from any possible outside interference. He explained this again as he performed the procedure on Yondu, going on to explain that if the pain he was feeling was yours, his chip would give off a distinct cool sensation, and if the pain was his own then the chip would do nothing, thus providing a way for him to distinguish between the two.  
Before you knew it, the doctor was finished with Yondu and it was your turn. You nervously got up to take his place in the strange chair. The doctor made a joke about how you weren’t going to need to pay for the local anesthetic, but made sure you understood that you needed to stay absolutely still so that he didn’t paralyze you.

“Uh hm..” you squeaked in response.  
  
“It’s ok, girly.” Yondu comforted before teasing that he wouldn’t tell if you wanted to hold his hand. He chuckled when you responded with a quiet “Okay.” you hoped the doctor didn’t hear and he took your hand, which you squeezed in response. If you were being honest with yourself, you were more nervous now than before. You foolishly hadn’t even considered paralyzation before the doctor mentioned it. Yondu must have been able to sense your concerns with the way you were gripping his hand. “Don’t worry, you’re in good hands. They have some of the best doctor’s on Krylor.”  
The doctor chuckled lightly at that and went on to explain that your chip was programed to deliver the signals of pain and extreme temperatures to Yondu, adding that since you already seemed to have a fairly good system helping you out with remembering to use the bathroom, he hadn’t programed the system to deliver those sensations so as to avoid confusion in Yondu’s body.   
Even with the distinguishing sensation his chip would emit to signal the feeling was yours, it might still take some getting used to ‘who’s sensations were who’s,’ for the first while anyway. He added that if something were to go wrong with those particular organs, however, that Yondu would feel that. Something, say a bladder infection, would likely be painful and would obviously feel different than just the urge to urinate, and therefore that signal would be transmitted into Yondu’s chip for him to feel and then warn you that something was up before it progressed too badly.  
  
“Alright, all done!” You hear the doctor exclaim in a cheerful tone. Even after watching Yondu go first you still weren’t prepared for the procedure to be done that quickly, but you weren’t going to argue. “Now all’s that’s left is to sync up the chips and test to make sure they’re working.” he messed around with his tablet some more and you heard a chime emanate from the device. “Alright, they appear to be synced, now let’s test to make sure they are working properly.” he pulled out a pin and joked about how it was odd of him to be required to cause you harm in order to prevent you from harm as he took your arm.   
He looked at Yondu. “You should turn around. It removes the possibility of a a placebo pain if you don’t see it coming, you won’t be expecting it. I’ll also need you to state when you feel anything.” Yondu obliged and after waiting a few moments the doctor pricked your arm with the pin.  
  
“Felt that.”  
  
The doctor took your hand and pricked each of your fingers, not enough to draw blood, but still with good pressure. He then took your other arm and repeated the process, Yondu stating that he felt it after each prick.  
Dr. Mereet motioned for you to turn around. You could feel the pressure of him pricking each of your shoulders with the pin, and then doing the same down your back, and coming back up to your head and delivering three more pricks.  
  
“Felt all that.”  
  
“And the chip is emitting the sensation to inform you that these sensations are hers?” Dr Mereet inquired, coming around to your front and motioning you to sit down.  
  
“Yup.”  
  
Doctor Mereet then took the pin and continued pricking down you leg, before motioning for you to remove your shoes. He began pricking each toe, luckily using enough pressure that it didn’t accidentally tickle. You didn’t feel like explaining that to a strange alien doctor who had likely never even heard of tickling before. Talk about awkward.   
He repeated the same process to the other leg, Yondu still stating that he was able to feel all of it. You felt like this was a little excessive, but you assumed it was just to ensure that the chip was picking up and transmitting the sensations from the whole body.   
  
“Alright. Looks like everything is in working order.” the doctor concluded. “You’re free to go, and those stitches will dissolve in a few weeks.” he smiled, showing you both to the door and directing you up the hall and to the left to find the lobby where you collected Peter and headed back to the ship.  
  
***  
  
Things were starting to get back to normal on the ship. Well, kind of. Obviously everyone still looked at you kind of weird when they thought you weren’t looking. Learning in a dramatic manner that your friend might die tends to do that to people, but everyone was trying their best to get life back to normal as possible.  
  
The whole Braiteoir Pian System thing was kind of weird to.  It’s difficult to get used to having Yondu randomly warning you to shift in your chair because you’re hurting your back, or too stop chewing your thumbnail because you weren’t paying attention and bit down to the quick, or “Dammit girl, don’t you know that plate is going to be hot! You just took it out of the cooker! How have you survived!?” However, at the same time these were all little things that you half-way expected to happen.   
  
There was, however, one thing you never really had to think about before.  
  
You woke up one morning slightly earlier than usual. Earlier than you’d like, but not early enough that you would find it worth it to go back to bed, so you decided to just go ahead and get up and get ready. Same routine as normal, morning checklist for injuries, and then morning grooming ritual of brushing teeth, hair, wash face, etc. As you are using the toilet you notice that your time of the month has come. Not too big of a deal, you just deal with it and finish dressing.   
  
You finish lacing your boot and you hear the faint sound of someone moaning from somewhere else on the ship. “ _Ugh, gross._ ” you think, assuming Peter and Gamora must be having a little morning-time fun. You move to the dresser to take your morning round of medication when you start to hear sounds of exclamation.  You nearly choke on a laugh as you wash the meds down with some water, thinking someone must have accidentally walked in on Peter and Gamora during their “fun-time” and you were hearing the awkward shouts of surprise from both parties.  _“Well, that’s what you get if you think you need the whole ship to hear your business.”_  you think as you chuckle inside.  
  
However, that’s when you hear frantic knocking at your door, and Peter calling your name. Startled, you immediately get up, unlock your door and open it, wondering what’s happened. “What’s wrong?” you ask Peter in concerned as he grabs your shoulders, looking you up and down with a mixture of concern and confusion on his face. He looks like he has just woken up, still in his sleepwear and his hair disheveled.   
  
“You… You look fine?” Peter exclaimed in confusion.  
  
“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I?” You suddenly become aware that you can still hear the moaning coming from somewhere in the ship. You didn’t know who it was, but you were finally sure it wasn’t Peter and Gamora going at it. You begin to wonder if someone had boarded the ship and attacked the team. “What’s that moaning? Is everyone ok? Is someone hurt?” You tried to look over Peter’s shoulder, who was still looking you over.  
  
“You sure?” he lifted up your shirt to examine your stomach, receiving a swat from you in response.  
  
“Dude! Personal space! What the hell!?”  
  
“I think we need to take you back to the Medical Clinic. Yondu knocked on my door saying I need to check on you. He said it feels like someone is ripping his guts out, and his chip is saying the pain is yours.” He looked very worried as he said that. He steps back and you could see Yondu shuffling towards you, doubled over, groaning loudly in pain, and holding his stomach. You look at him in shock, concerned for his safety before realizing that he wasn’t in any danger if what he was feeling was your pain.  That meant whatever was wrong was actually your problem. But… you already checked yourself over, nothing was wrong? Nothing had changed in the couple weeks since the chips had been installed. Nothing except… You looked at Yondu again clutching his stomach in pain. His… lower stomach.   
  
Your eyes widened and your cheeks began to turn red.   
  
“Come on, let’s get her to a Medic.” Yondu groaned.   
  
“No I-” You start.  
  
“No, you’re going. This looks serious.” Peter exclaimed pointing at Yondu who was still groaning loudly.   
  
“No, shh… It’s ok!” you whisper-shouted, hoping Yondu would be quiet, afraid he would wake the others.   
  
“Ok? How is this ok?! Look at him! Whatever that is, it’s happening to you. Come on.” Peter grabs your arm again.   
  
Again, you resist. “Peter please! Yondu calm down!” you scold. “I-I think I know what’s wrong. It’s not serious.” you said in a low voice.   
  
“Not serious! Yer full of shit! This feels serious!” Yondu returns your scolding, but then pauses, a contemplative look painting his features. “Wait… are ya full of shit? Are ya sayin’ yer plumbin’ is blocked up, girly?”  
  
“Ugh! No!” you were turning a nice shade of scarlet now, and Peter was starting to notice. “It’s something… else.” you cringed, hoping beyond hope they’d understand somehow and you wouldn’t need to explain further.  
  
“Umm… Explain?” Peter was starting to look impatient as you tried in vain to hush Yondu as he groaned loudly, not wanting to bring the other’s out into this, it was going to be awkward enough.  
  
“Well…” you start. You tried to remember how your mother had phrased 'the talk’ when you hit puberty and 'that time of the month’ first started happening. “I  _am_  a female of… reproductive age…” you raised your eyebrows and made a gesture as if to say 'Understand now?’ and hoped you wouldn’t need to explain further.  
  
“Yer PREGNANT!?” Yondu exclaimed much too loudly for your comfort, momentarily forgetting his pain before doubling back over again and holding his stomach. Peter’s jaw dropped and he tried to stammer out some words akin to  _'How? You’re preg- What? When could you-? What?!“_  
  
"What? No! NO!” you cry, waving your hands wildly in demonstration that this was not  **AT ALL**  what you meant. “Please keep your voice down! The other’s will hear you!” You looked at Peter with pleading eyes to shut-up as you grabbed Yondu by his jacket and dragged him into your room in hopes that this conversation could be carried out in a less public setting.   
  
“How can you be pregnant?!” it was Peter’s turn to whisper-yell at you. “How-?! When did you even have time to- Who would you even-”  
  
You cut him off. “Dude! No! I’m not! That’s not what I meant! Why would you immediately go there?”   
  
“Well what else would you mean by 'reproductive age’?!” Peter argued. Yondu looked irritated and clueless as well.  
  
You blinked. “You… don’t know?” you asked. Was is it possible that they really didn’t know?   
  
“Know what?”   
  
They didn’t. Just GrEAt. Though you supposed it made sense. Yondu didn’t have a whole lot of knowledge of Terrans, and Peter was taken from Terra at age 8, so it was more than possible he had never even had the “Male puberty talk” when he came of that age, let alone what happened to  _the girls_  when they reached the same age.  
  
“Like I said, I’m a female of… reproductive age. That means that monthly I…”  
  
“Yes?” Peter inquired, looking very confused.  
  
“Well when female’s from our homeworld reach a certain age they… um…” Gods, this was awkward.  
  
“Spit it out, girl!” exclaimed Yondu, clearly grumpy.  
  
“They bleed… Monthly. And… this is the time of my cycle… where I bleed.”   
  
“Bleed…? From where?” Peter looked you up and down, clearly confused because he didn’t see any blood or wounds when he looked you over, and obviously it wasn’t coming from your belly button.  
  
You cringed so hard inside. This was so awkward. In school all this was explained as this really private thing that you would NEVER talk to a boy about. Yet here you were, having to explain this to both your surrogate brother  _and_ alien surrogate father figure.   
However, in an effort to wrap this up quickly, because even though this conversation could have only taken 5 minutes so far, it felt like 3 hours, you take a deep breath, and point 'down there.’  
  
Cue weirded out noises from Peter and Yondu while you died inside and wished you could just dissolve into the wall behind you.  
Eventually they stopped, and Peter asked “So… apparently this 'time of the month’ hurts?”  
  
“Well, my mother said most women usually have cramps in their abdomen when it happens, but obviously I never felt those due to my condition. I kinda forgot they were a thing, honestly.”  
  
“Well inn’t that great.” Yondu said sarcastically with another groan of discomfort. “And just how long will these last?”   
  
“Um, well I, uh, usually bleed for a week-”  
  
“A  _week!?_ ” Peter balked, and Yondu’s eyes widened as well.

“Yes, a week. That’s pretty normal.” you sighed, cheeks still very red. “So my guess is the cramps will last… that long? Or maybe just a day? I don’t really know. Like I said, I’ve never felt them.” you say sheepishly, receiving a groan from Yondu, obviously displeased with the situation.  
  
“I’m going back to bed.” he declared, walking out of the room and back towards his own. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and this won’t last long and I can sleep most of this off.”   
  
Peter looked at you sheepishly. You could tell he had more questions but felt it was too awkward to ask. “Uh, I’m gonna go too.” he said, rubbing the back of his head and turning away.  
  
“Hey, Peter?” you call after him.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Next time, maybe don’t freak out first & ask questions later? Might make it less awkward if you just calm down and see what’s up first.” You try to laugh, trying and failing to lift the veil of awkwardness over the situation.  
  
“Noted. Will do.” he said as he walked out of your quarters, trying to decide if asking Gamora if this was a thing her species went through would get him punched in the throat.  
  
’ _Well_ _at least it can’t possibly get more awkward than that._ ’ you think as you leave your room to get some breakfast.  
Just as you were closing your door, Mantis walked up, Drax and a sleepy Groot right behind her.   
“What was all the noise earlier? And why did Yondu look to be in pain?” Mantis asked innocently. “I asked him, but he said to ask you.”  
  
You were wrong. It could get more awkward.


	7. Pranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Rocket pull a prank on Peter and Yondu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I should add that as this is already basically a GOTG Vol 2 alternate timeline where Yondu lives I’m thinking why not let it run parallel with the MCU and tie in bits of current plot events, it could open up for the story to run longer and encounter more interesting obstacles along with those Reader is already dealing with. In addition to Yondu being alive, I’ve decided that in this alternate timeline that the Eclector didn’t completely explode in GOTG2, that only half of it was destroyed and has since been nearly rebuilt. You’ve already seen mention of this in previous chapters and this will become important later in this chapter.

You were doodling at a table near one of the windows on the ship, gazing out at the stars when Gamora sat down across from you.   
  
“Um, hey?” you looked up quizzically from your doodle. “You need something?”  
  
“No, I just thought maybe you needed to talk." 

You knew it wasn’t a question, but you tried to brush her off anyway.  
  
"Nah, I’m ok-”  
  
“Yeah, we thought you’d say that,” she interupted. “so this isn’t optional.” she attempted to give you a warm smile, to which you responded with a raised eyebrow, setting down your pen and halting your doodles.  
  
“We?” you questioned. Were the others about to come out? Was this some kind of intervention?  
  
“Yes. Peter and the rest of us have noticed you’ve become withdrawn lately. We just want to help figure out how to get the old you back, and Peter thought maybe some "girl-talk” might help.“  
  
"Girl talk?” You looked at her quizzically. Gamora wasn’t exactly the first person you’d think to give a stereotypical “Girl talk” as you remembered them with your mom or friends, talking about boys or dolls or makeup, even though at the time your mother said you were to young to wear it. Maybe girl talk changes it’s meaning when you get older? Last time you had some “girl talk” you were 11, after all.   
For a moment you briefly worried that this could have been about when awhile back when you and Yondu both unexpectedly discovered (in the most embarrassing way possible) that you apparently cramped during your period. You really hoped Peter hadn’t sent Gamora to talk to you about that since she happened to be another female. You didn’t need that talk again.  
  
“You know what I mean. He thought talking to another woman would help you open up. At least, better than him trying to do it. He thinks you’re pushing him out.”  
  
It was true, after everything, you had started avoiding everyone out of awkwardness. You didn’t like thinking they were looking at you differently. You look at her, contemplating if you wanted to open up or brush her off. Eventually you decided it couldn’t hurt and said “It’s just… I don’t like it when you guys look at me differently. It’s still me. Nothing has changed.”   
  
“You can’t deny that some has changed.” Gamora replied. “You can’t expect us all to act like nothing happened when you’ve tried to hide some pretty serious stuff from us. We’re your family, you should have come to us.”  
  
You stared down at the table. “Look… I-”  
  
“I know.” Gamora reassured. “Look, we all want everything to go back to the way things were as much as you do, but that can’t happen if you keep shutting us out.” she placed a hand on yours and you looked up.   
  
“Yeah, I know.” you say, nodding your head slightly. “I’ll try.”  
  
Gamora chuckled as she stood up. “You better. You know how Peter is. He won’t just let you hide away. You’re lucky he hasn’t started assigning you chaperones just to pull you back into the group.”  
  
It was your time to laugh. “I know! I’m surprised he hasn’t put me on a leash so I can’t run off to my room.” You both laughed at that and cracked a few more “Overprotective-Peter” jokes before Gamora was satisfied that you would make an effort to not isolate yourself as much and let the others in. She told you she would see you later and left you to your doodles. You assumed Peter would catch up to her later to see how your “Girl Talk” went, but decided not to bother yourself with it and went back to idly doodling.  
  
After a few moments you felt a tap on your shoulder, causing you to jump and drop your pen. 

“Oh hoho! Jumpy!” you hear Rocket’s voice laughing as you turn to swat at him.  
  
“Rude!” you laugh as Rocket moves around you to stand in front of you. “What’s up?”  
  
“Peter and the Blue guy are tuning up one of the engines.”  
  
“Ok?” you raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Ok?? Dude! This is prime pranking time! C'mon!”   
  
You grinned at his exasperation. “Alright, what did you have in mind?” you didn’t know if you were in the mood, but you’d hear him out.  
  
“When we were back on Xandar I picked up some dye bombs and this spray that smells like ass.” Rocket pulled a small yellow bottle out of his pocket.  
  
Your eyes lit up. “Ass spray?!  _Ass_.  _Spray_. Let’s do that one!” you practically jumped out of your seat, earning a laugh from Rocket at your new found enthusiasm. “Let’s spray it on all their stuff!”  
  
“Hold on!” Rocket laughed. “Start slow, let’s do a few things at a time, build it up.”  
  
You agreed and the two of you started off towards Peter’s bedroom, as it was closer on the way to Yondu’s. Upon reaching his room you looked around, debating what to spray the foul stench on.  
  
“Pillow?” you held up the item.  
  
“No, too obvious. His music?” Rocket pointed to the Zune on the dresser. Surprisingly it wasn’t on Peter’s person, a very rare occurrence.   
  
“NO! He’ll kill us, and no prank is worth a death that painful.” you tossed the pillow back on the bed and walked over to Rocket.  
  
“Good point… wait!” Rocket’s eyes settled on something over your shoulder.  
  
You turned around. “What?” you started to ask, and then you saw it. Peter’s Jacket. “Ohhh…” You both stared for a moment.   
  
“Should we?” Rocket looked at you, almost unsure of this plan. If Peter loved his music the most (other than Gamora), his jacket was a close second.  
  
“We shall.” you replied with a grin as you lift up a sleeve. “Under the arm?”   
  
“No better place!” Rocket laughed as he sprayed the left armpit of the jacket just once. Turns out once was all it needed before your eyes started to water.  
  
You covered you nose with your shirt. “Ugh! Let’s get out of here!” you exclaim, dropping the sleeve of Peter’s jacket and making for the door, Rocket right beside you. Upon exiting Peter’s room you and Rocket did your best to act natural in case you encountered anyone on your way to Yondu’s quarters.  
  
Surprisingly, the two of you didn’t run into anyone on the way there. Usually you weren’t that lucky. You and Rocket start to snicker as you opened Yondu’s door only to jump a mile as Kraglin opened his own door to exit his quarters, which happened to be close to Yondu’s as a first mate’s quarters typically are.  
Seeing you two seemed to startle him slightly as well. “Um, Whatcha doing?” he asked with a raised brow.   
  
“Um… nothing?” you phrased it almost like a question, looking at Rocket for reassurance. There was no denying you both looked incredibly guilty. Your expression looked just like a child getting caught with something it wasn’t supposed to have and Rocket was very clearly hiding something behind his back. The fact that you were also halfway through Yondu’s doorway didn’t help matters.  
  
“Look, I don’t know what ya’ll are up to-” Kraglin held his hands up. “I aint no snitch, but I also dun want any part of what prank ya’ll are clearly gonna pull on Yondu. I dun want him to think I was helping ya’ll. So… I wasn’t here if anyone asks. Deal?”  
  
“Deal.” replied Rocket. “And we’ll spare you from the prank if you walk away now.” He snickered as Kraglin’s eyes widened slightly.  
  
“Walkin’ away!” Kraglin quickly replied as he turned on his heels and made his way down the hall and out of sight. He’s seen the pranks you guys have pulled before, and the trouble they both caused and got you into, and long since decided it was best for him to stay as clear from them as possible.   
  
With Kraglin gone you and Rocket entered Yondu’s quarters and looked around to find the best item to spray.   
  
“This chair?” You point to a chair close to the entrance.  
  
“Maybe? Or maybe just the pillow?” Rocket pointed to a green cushion on the chair.  
  
“You said pillows were too obvious?”  
  
“Yeah, but this pillow is on a chair.”   
  
You looked around. “What about this bottle?” you ask, picking up a squarish looking glass bottle and looking it over.  
  
“I don’t know.” replied Rocket.  
  
You both continued to decide which item to spray for awhile more before eventually deciding to spray the green pillow on the chair you first mentioned and hurrying out of the room soon after.   
You closed the door behind you and Rocket suggested you leave in separate directions. If you were found together it’d immediately raise suspicion when Peter and Yondu found their items smelling like ass. You nodded in agreement and departed down the hall the opposite direction from Rocket.   
  
Without having any real obligations to get back to, you just continued to walk around for awhile without a real destination, idly roaming the hallways and corridors of the large ship. You turned a corner and entered the docking bay, mostly rebuilt from when Yondu blew up part of the ship after the mutiny. You roam the catwalks, occasionally stopping to just take in your surroundings. You were walking on one of the upper catwalks when you finally got tired and decided to call it a night and head to bed. You started making your way down the stairs to the lower catwalk and had nearly reached the bottom when your foot slipped a step. You flailed out hoping to obtain purchase of something, anything, to stop yourself from falling. Unable to grasp anything in time you fell down the last three steps hitting the platform below with a hard and loud thud.  
  
“Ungh!” you moan, turning over on your back and trying to stop your heart from beating out of your chest from the scare. You thought you had heard something in the distance, maybe a shout? You didn’t know, but you chose to ignore it, thinking it might have been just a residual echo from your fall. You opted instead to just lie there for a few moments more, staring at the high ceiling while you waited for your nerves to calm down. Eventually you decided to sit up and check yourself over. Other than a few minor scratches from scraping across the diamond pattern of the expanded steel sheet flooring of the catwalk you couldn’t really find anything wrong. You couldn’t feel anything broken when you performed a quick check of your arms and legs, so you decided to stand. You thought you heard the same noise from earlier, it sounded closer this time, but you couldn’t really make it out.    
  
As you started walking back towards the exit of the docking bay you could swear the noise from earlier was becoming more constant, and the way it echoed was a little creepy. It definitely wasn’t just an echo from your fall. You remembered the ghost stories you and your friends back on Terra would tell at sleepovers and felt your skin crawl, but quickly scolded yourself. There wasn’t a ghost on the ship, that would be ridiculous! Right? Unless… A lot of Ravagers  _did_  die on this ship in that mutiny…  
  
Your thoughts were cut off when you thought you could make out words. Not just words, cursing.  
  
“Ow! Dammit!” you heard it clearly now. Yondu’s angry voice and a pair of quickly stomping booted feet were approaching the docking bay.   
  
 _‘What in the world?_ ’ you thought. You finally reached the exit and walked into the hall where you were met by an irritated looking Yondu and a more concerned looking Peter. “Uh… hi?” you looked at them sheepishly. “What’s up?” you took another step towards them, and Yondu winced.  
  
“What. Did. You. Do!?” Yondu said through gritted teeth, glaring at you. Your eyes widened and you felt a nervousness creep into your chest. You immediately assumed they already found their stuff smelling like ass. You knew they wouldn’t be happy, but you were surprised that Yondu would get this angry.  
  
“What Yondu is trying to say,” Peter explained, seeing your nervous expression, “is that he thinks you might have broken your ankle.” Peter gestured towards your left ankle. “What happened?”  
  
“It-it was nothing, I just missed a step when I was coming down from one of the upper catwalks.” Without thinking you took a step backwards to gesture towards a set of stairs. Yondu groaned in pain.  
  
“Stop puttin’ weight on it, girl!” He growled, making you shrink and wince in response. “What were you even doing in there?”  
  
“I was just walking around, not really doing anything. And I really doubt I broke it-” you start until see Yondu’s eyes narrow at you. “I mean, maybe it’s just a sprain?” you suggest, wringing your hands. You really hoped it could just be a sprain. If it was broken you knew Peter would lay you up for at least 2 months until it healed, and would probably tack on another month just to be safe.  
  
“Trust me. It’s broken.” Yondu refuted, looking rather unhappy. “I knows what a broken bone feels like. I also know once it’s broken ya don’t just keep walkin’ on it like nothin’!” Yondu scolded continued to glare but his face softened upon seeing your guilty expression. He knew it wasn’t your fault you couldn’t feel it. “Come on, kid. We need to put a splint on it an’ wrap it before ya make it worse.”  
  
You sighed and relented, allowing Peter to help support you on your left side so you wouldn’t put too much weight on it until you could get to the Med Bay and treat your ankle.  
  
Once reaching the Med Bay Peter had you sit down on an old metal chair while he searched the cabinets for the metal splints and the wrapping. “Do you know what this means? Or do I need to say it?” Peter asked as he found the wraps in a drawer.  
  
“I know, I know. I can’t help with any missions for awhile… yada yada…” You sighed sullenly as you removed your boot, wincing at the sight of your indeed swollen ankle. You look apologetically at Yondu who just nodded in response.  
  
“That’s right.” Peter made his way back to you and began setting your ankle to wrap it. “Just wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any arguing.”  
  
“No.” You sighed again, sitting back in the chair, frustrated with yourself. You had just gotten un-benched, and there you went, breaking your ankle and laying yourself up for who knows how long. However, this time was different, you weren’t going to try and fight it. You knew you couldn’t even convince yourself, let alone Peter, that you’d be ok to fight with a broken ankle. Not if you wanted it to heal as fast as possible. Not to mention the fact that if you tried, and aggravated the injury in battle, the other Braiteoir Pian System chip in Yondu alerting him of your pain could distract him at a potentially detrimental time.  
  
“Good.” Peter replied as he continued to wrap. The three of you were more or less silent until he finished and located a set of crutches for you to walk with. “I’m thinking three months.”  
  
You sighed.  _'Knew it.’_  you thought bitterly as you made your way out of the room and headed towards your own quarters, Peter staying beside you to make sure you had the hang of the crutches and Yondu departed towards the Captain’s Quarters.  
  
On the walk to your room Peter gave the usual “Got to be careful” lecture you were used to getting recently. You only half-listened and nodded at the appropriate times. Upon reaching your room he ruffled your hair, saying it wasn’t the end of the world and hopefully the next day would be better.  
  
“Maybe.” you sighed and wished him a half-hearted goodnight, heading into your room and shutting the door. After a moment you turned back and locked your door. You knew that unless the smell had mellowed there was a good chance Peter and Yondu might smell the ass spray when they got into their rooms for the night. If they did then you knew leaving your door unlocked would be just asking for retaliation while you slept. Not gonna happen.  
You were still kicking yourself for your broken ankle as you readied yourself for bed. Climbing under your blanket you could only think of one thing as you lied there awake, waiting for sleep to claim you.  
  
This was going to be a  _really_  boring next three months. 


	8. With Pranks Come Retaliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter finds out someone messed with his jacket and you very nervously await retaliation.

“What the hell!”   
  
You were startled awake by Peter crying out in frustration. You realized he must have found out what you did to his jacket and momentarily panicked before you remembered not only did you lock your door, but surely he wouldn’t retaliate too hard considering your broken ankle? Right?  
You decided to get up and quickly ran through your morning routine and got ready for the day.  
  
You could still hear the commotion from Peter and decided to maybe stay in your quarters a bit longer. Maybe read a little and think of ways to avoid retaliation for the prank you helped Rocket pull.  
  
You were wondering if Rocket was hiding when you heard a knock at your door and jumped, assuming Peter had come to either scold you or retaliate.   
  
“Hey, you awake? You’re supposed to help me with breakfast this morning, remember?” It was Gamora, to your relief, and you actually had forgotten it was your turn to help cook today.  
  
“Yeah, one sec!” you replied, grabbing your crutches and walked over to open the door.  
  
“What happened?” Gamora asked when she saw you exit the room on crutches.  
  
“Oh, ya know, just kinda broke my ankle last night.” you said sheepishly, making your way to the Mess Hall. “Missed a step coming down the stairs in the Docking Bay when I was taking a walk.”  
  
“I bet Yondu was thrilled.” Gamora said sarcastically, walking beside you.  
  
“Yeah, no. He wasn’t particularly happy.” you kept at a brisk pace, hoping to not run into Peter on the way, you thought you could still hear him grumbling. Chances are if he suspected you, he would head for your quarters first to confront you, but luckily for you you weren’t going to be there. You allowed yourself a moment to relax as both you and Gamora reached the kitchen and began prepping for breakfast, knowing you’d have a bit longer before you got yelled at.  
  
“So,” began Gamora. “You wouldn’t have any idea about what happened to Peter’s jacket, would you? He seems convinced someone rubbed something on it to make it smell particularly foul.”   
  
You looked down to avoid her gaze, you had a terrible poker face. “No, I hadn’t heard anything about that.” you pretended to be very concentrated on the fruit you were cutting. “But I’m sure whatever it was, it will go away once he washes his jacket.”  
  
Gamora smirked. “Yes, I suppose. But he said he was looking for whoever did it, he wants payback on whoever messed with his jacket. He says he has a good idea who did it.”  
  
“Oh. Did he say who?” You tried to sound casual, but you still wouldn’t look her in the eye.  
  
“Nope.”   
  
You could hear a laugh in her tone. You knew she knew it was you, and you both knew Peter knew it was you. You attempted not to shudder as you remembered Yondu’s payback for hiding his Ravager badge, only assuming Peter’s revenge might be similar. 

***  
  
Breakfast was… interesting. You noticed Peter sitting across the table, without his jacket, and did your best not to make eye contact for fear of laughing. Rocket, who was sitting between you and Mantis, was much better at acting nonchalant, though it didn’t stop him from nudging you with his elbow and snickering when he thought Peter wasn’t looking. Surprisingly, Peter didn’t bring up his jacket, and you only assumed this meant he was planning his retaliation. Yondu didn’t say much either, so either he hadn’t noticed yet, or he was also thinking of a suitable punishment.   
  
“What’s with the crutches?” You heard Drax ask from beside Peter. Drax nodded to the crutches sticking up from the bench. You sighed, you didn’t really feel like explaining again, but you supposed it was better to do it now with everyone here than have everyone ask you throughout the day.  
  
“I broke my ankle, it’s nothing.” you hoped they wouldn’t press further, but of course, Mantis was curious.  
  
“Oh! What happened? Did you trip?” Mantis’s eyes grew wide as she asked.  
  
“I went for a walk and missed a step coming down the stairs in the Docking Bay. It’s nothing.” you stared down at your plate and heard Yondu huff, no doubt because he felt every bit of that “nothing” last night when you continued to walk on that ankle, not knowing yet it was broken.   
This was confirmed by Peter, who explained how Yondu dropped suddenly in pain at the same time they heard the sound of your fall echo from the the Docking Bay and immediately assessed you had gotten hurt somehow in there. He added that Yondu complained the whole way over that: “Dammit! That girl is just walking on a broken ankle! I’ll never know how she’s survived this long!”   
  
You shot Yondu a look at this, which he just ignored with a gesture indicating he wasn’t sorry.  
  
“I am Groot.” Groot said to Rocket, before being scolded by Gamora for talking with a mouth full of fruit and told that video games didn’t belong at the table.  
  
“Yeah, I wondered what that was too.” Rocket responded to the little tree and made a joke about you being a klutz.   
  
Peter took this time to again lecture you on being more careful and you rolled your eyes.   
“Yes, yes! I get it! I’m trying.” you sighed.  
  
After breakfast you excused yourself and quickly washed your dishes, hoping to avoid Peter. He might not have mentioned the jacket, but you still saw him as the bigger threat in terms of retaliation to the prank. Yondu usually just scolded you or made you do extra chores, but Peter was the one who typically went in for the revenge prank.  
  
You managed to slip out of the kitchen unnoticed and headed towards your quarters. It wasn’t long before you heard Yondu call from behind you.  
  
“Hey, missy! C'mere a sec.”  
  
 _‘Oh shit.’_ You thought. This was it. You were dead. You nervously turned around and greeted Yondu. “Hey… What’s up?”  
  
Yondu handed you a bottle of pills.   
  
“What’s this?” you ask, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“It’s for the swellin’. I found them in my nightstand and thought you could use them.” he replied. “I know ya can’t feel it, but it’s best to keep the swelling down.”   
  
You nodded. “Um, thank you.” you looked back at the bottle.  
  
“Don’t mention it, kid.” he said with a clap to your shoulder before walking away. “Try to keep off of it if ya want it to heal faster. Ya hear me?”  
  
You nodded back in response before realizing he wasn’t looking at you anymore. “Uh, yeah!” you blurted out, still surprised he hadn’t yelled at you for the prank. Had he really not noticed yet? You put the bottle in your pocket and turned back around after a moment only to turn a corner a moment later and run into Peter, causing you to jump a mile.   
  
Peter laughed. “Jumpy today?”   
  
“No.” you lied. “Um, what’s up?” you asked, trying and not altogether succeeding to not sound nervous.  
  
“Nothing, just walking around… and  _not_  falling down any stairs.” he teased, to which you responded by smacking him in the leg with one of your crutches. “Ow! Brat!” he laughed. “I was only kidding!”  
  
You stuck your tongue out at him and made to move passed him, hoping to get away before he could use this time to proceed with whatever retaliation you knew was coming. To your surprise he didn’t stop you.  _'Crap. What if that means he pranked my room?’_ you wondered.   
Upon reaching your room you made sure to check everything carefully. You checked your drawers for dye bombs, your bed for weird smells in case he hid rotten food under your mattress, your pillow for… you didn’t know what, but you checked it for whatever he could have possibly done to it. You checked every inch of your room, but found nothing pranky. You were confused, he usually retaliates quickly. Perhaps his retaliation would come later? Then a realization hit you. What if Peter and Yondu were working together? What if the pills Yondu gave you were the prank? What if they weren’t really for swelling but turned you blue or gave you bad gas instead? You knew it was silly, but you decided to refrain from taking any, at least for now until you could figure out if they had something else planned.  
  
The rest of the day went much the same as your morning. You’d startle each time Yondu or Peter came up to you, and were surprised each time neither of them confronted you about the prank. At one point you even asked Rocket if they had come to him at all about the prank, and you two were the usual suspects, and he said they hadn’t, and acted completely unfazed. That night you decided to lock your door again just in case Peter was saving the prank for when you went to sleep, perhaps to put your hand in a bowl of warm water or something. He hadn’t done it before, but you remembered seeing that prank used in a cartoon you used to watch as a kid and decided to be better safe than sorry.  
  
The next week you became an increasingly jumpy mess. You just knew Peter’s prank was going to come soon, but you didn’t know when. However, Rocket was completely unfazed still and had almost forgotten the prank when you asked him again if Peter and Yondu had said anything about it.   
  
“You worry to much.” he laughed. “Star-Munch probably forgot about the whole thing by now.”  
  
“Maybe you’re right.” you said.  
  
“Of course I am!” Rocket laughed again and went back to tinkering with whatever new weapon he decided to invent this week. You decided to take a walk to calm your nerves and had made it about 10 feet down the hall when you heard Peter call your name and heard him jog to catch up.  
  
“Hey, I’ve been looking for you.”   
  
“Oh… you were?” you said nervously.   
  
“Yeah. We should take a look at your ankle to see how it’s doing.” He didn’t seem to have an ulterior motive, but that didn’t stop you from being apprehensive.  
  
“Oh… ok.” you replied and hesitantly followed him in silence.  
  
Once you both finally reached the Med Bay you were surprised to see Yondu already there waiting for you. Your eyes widened.  _'Oh no, this must be it, this must be where they will get their revenge!’_  you thought, feeling your heart beat faster as you wondered what they were possibly going to do.   
  
“Why do ya look so surprised, girly? Ya know I got to be here.” Yondu scoffed.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“How else is the boy gonna know if he’s hurtin’ ya if I’m not here?” Yondu crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.  
  
“Oh.” you blushed slightly at how jumpy you were being as you sat down and placed your crutches against the wall next to you. Peter lifted your foot and started undoing your wrapping to look at your foot. Meanwhile, you couldn’t help yourself from tensing up and you started wringing your hands. You were very nervous that at any moment one of them was about to spring a retaliation prank on you.  You glanced up to find Yondu giving you an odd look and you quickly averted your eyes to your lap.  
  
“Why the hell do ya look so jittery for?” Yondu questioned, looking almost as if he found humor in your actions.  
  
You started to respond but Peter had finished removing the wrapping and looked up at you with concern. “This is still really swollen. You havn’t been trying to walk on it, have you?”  
  
“No.” You shook your head. You didn’t really know how long the swelling on a broken ankle usually lasted, but apparently your ankle shouldn’t have been as swollen as it was. If anything it maybe looked more swollen than when you first broke it, but because you never broke an ankle before, you didn’t know if what you were seeing when you removed the wrappings to shower was normal or not, so you never said anything.  
  
Yondu spoke up. “I thought I gave ya somethin’ for the swellin’, girl? Haven’t ya been taking 'em?”   
  
You swallowed. “Um, no…” you said softly, a blush creeping into your face. You had the feeling those pills were probably the real deal now and now felt relatively stupid. Peter stood up and crossed his arms, looking down at you.  
  
“No?! An’ why the hell not?” you could hear the irritation in Yondu’s voice now.  
  
“I, um… I wasn’t sure they were… real…” You said quietly, swallowing again.  
  
Yondu and Peter blanked for a moment. Yondu spoke first. “Ya didn’t think- Not real?! Why the hell-?!?” he flustered, you thought for a moment he was wondering if you lost your mind.  
  
“Because of the prank? I was sure when Peter didn’t say anything that you guys must have been planning revenge or something.” your face was scarlet now.   
  
Peter nudged Yondu and grinned. “Pay up.” Peter laughed.   
  
“What?” it was your turn to blank. You looked up at Yondu’s irritated face and Peter’s smug one.  
  
“No, ya bet that she’d get paranoid when ya didn’t react to what she did to yer jacket, not that she’d think I’d try to poison her!” Yondu argued, gesturing at you.  
  
“Hey, that count’s as paranoia!” Peter retorted, laughing as Yondu grumbled and transferred him some units.  
  
“Wait, what?” you asked again, throughly confused.   
  
“Rocket told us he saw you spray whatever it was that made our stuff smell like ass.”  
  
“He what?!” Your eyes narrowed. That little rat sold you down the river!  
  
“Yeah. And since you already broke your ankle I figured why not get you back by just not doing anything. Yondu didn’t think so, but I knew eventually you’d get paranoid enough you’d start freaking out.” Peter laughed and went back to checking your ankle.   
  
“That little Trash Rat!” you yelled. “He sold me out?! It was  _his_  idea!” without thinking you jumped up in frustration. “I’m going to kill him!” You started to leave and find that little rat, however, your outburst caused Yondu to cry out in pain from you practically stomping down with your broken ankle and Peter quickly sat you back down in the chair.  
  
“Calm down! We can get him back later.” he pressed. He let you know had already assumed Rocket might have had something to do with it, and you only just confirmed it.   
  
Yondu just massaged the bridge of his nose. “Right now ya just need to focus on lettin’ yer ankle heal, girl.” he scolded. You looked up at him guiltily as he continued. “An’ how could ya believe I’d poison ya, missy?”  
  
“I didn’t think the pills would hurt me,” you explained, “just that they might do something weird like turn me orange or something.” you wince as Yondu gave you a look that said ’ _Are you freaking serious?_ ’  
  
“Well ya better start takin’ 'em, ya hear? That’s final. An’ I don’t wanna hear any lip about it.” Yondu scolded you.  
  
“Yes, sir.” you responded, looking into your lap. Peter was almost done re-wrapping the splint around your ankle. You glanced back up to see that Yondu was walking towards you. He stopped behind you and placed his hands on your shoulders.  
  
“It’s alright, little girl.” he said with laughter in his voice, and you soon found out why as he started spidering his fingers against your neck.  
  
“H-Hey! Cut it out!” you squeaked through giggles, twisting your head around and scrunching your shoulders trying to escape the ticklish sensations.   
  
“Are ya gonna start behavin’?” He laughed as he continued.  
  
Before you could answer you heard Yondu groan in pain and pull away.   
  
“Ungh… Maybe I shouldn’t do that while yer ankle is still messed up.” he groaned, but not without humor in his voice. Apparently you had involuntarily curled your toes while squirming and it aggravated your injury. You looked up and stuck your tongue out at him.  
  
By this time Peter had finished wrapping your ankle and you were able to stand up with the aid of your crutches and retire to your quarters for bed.  
  
***  
  
The next day you felt much better and weren’t nearly as jumpy now that you knew there was no retaliation coming your way from Peter and Yondu and had stopped avoiding them. You were, however, still thinking of ways to pay Rocket back for selling you out. You were brainstorming ideas when you decided to head over to the flight deck to talk to Peter, possibly pick his brain.   
  
Upon reaching the flight deck you found Gamora standing near the entrance and Peter standing up to walk towards the two of you. Right after he stood a red light light began flashing paired with a beeping noise on the control panel, causing Peter to turn back to see what it was about. Gamora and yourself entered further into the flight deck to get a better listen to what it could be. You had reached the middle of the floor when Peter hit the button, allowing the distress call to ring through the speakers.   
  
 _“_ _This is the Asgardian refugee vessel. We are under assault, I repeat, we are under assault - Engines are dead, life support failing. Requesting aid from any vessel within range… Our crew is made up of Asgardian families, we have very few soldiers here. This is not a war craft, I repeat, this is not a war craft.”_    
  
You all exchanged looks of concern and Gamora stated that she was going to go inform the others that a distress call had been received. You looked at Peter, who now looked ready for the action. However, you were less excited. Something about that distress call chilled you unlike any others the team had received before, though you weren’t sure why. You couldn’t explain it, but you just really didn’t want Peter to go on this one.   
  
Peter ruffled your hair, mistaking your expression for one of being bummed out at knowing you couldn’t join due to your broken ankle. “C'mon, it’s not going to be so bad, we’ll be back before you know it.” he laughed. “You’ll have Kraglin and Yondu to keep you company.”  
  
You looked up in surprise at that statement, but it quickly faded as you realized it only made sense to leave Yondu behind as well due to his connection to you via the chip. It would kind of negate the purpose of having the chips installed if the only person able to alert you that you were hurt just left you for extended periods of time. Yeah, you were still good at checking yourself over, and you almost wanted to suggest that you’d be fine on your own. However, the incident with your ankle, not to mention your heart, made you realize that you couldn’t ask them to just trust that you’d be safe anymore.   
  
You rolled your eyes and gave his shoulder a gentle shove, trying to act like your stomach wasn’t in knots and trying to hide your concerns. After all, it was probably nothing. Your subconscious was probably just selfishly wanting to beg Peter not to go on a mission without you. That must be it, right?   
  
You attempted to busy your mind with how you’d prank Rocket’s room while they were gone as the others were preparing to leave. You hugged Peter goodbye tightly, and after you released him he ruffled your hair once again and laughed.  
  
“Relax, I’ll be back sooner than you think.” he smiled, and you forced one back in return.   
He turned to board his ship and you worked your crutches backwards to stand next to Yondu, who quipped that you were getting pretty good at using them, and that maybe you should learn to fight with them. Again, you forced a short laugh to hide your nervousness and playfully swatted at him with one of the crutches as you dismounted it and placed it against the wall beside you. You still needed to lean on one to be able to stand while your ankle was splinted, but this gave you a free hand so you could fidget with your watch.  
  
Yondu noticed your nervous fidgeting and placed a hand on your shoulder. “They’ll be okay.” he comforted, and you tried to believe he was right. You  _really_ wanted to believe it.  
  
However, no matter how hard you tried, and you did try, you couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling you felt a moment later as you watched Peter’s Benatar fire up in preparation to take off; something terrible was going to happen, and you wouldn’t be there to help.


	9. Unexpected Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new visitor arrives in a strange manner. Will Yondu let him stay?

_“No!”_

You bolt upright in bed gasping and shaking slightly. You had just woken from a terrible dream.

A dream about Peter and the others. You were all laughing and having a good time when suddenly something hit the ship, breaking stuff and throwing you all around. You were thrown into a bit of broken metal and it impaled your stomach. Peter came to your aid and held you. You looked around and realized you couldn’t see the others anymore. You turned toward Peter with panic in your eyes and your mouth opened in terror as you saw him dissolving away into nothing. You wanted to scream, but no sound came out. As you watched the last of him fade away only one thought kept screaming in your mind. “PLEASE! DON’T LEAVE ME! PLEAS-”

And that’s when you woke up.

You looked at the time and saw that you would normally be up in roughly half an hour anyway, so you decided to just stay awake. Not like you really felt like sleeping anymore anyway after your dream.

Still a little shaken you get up, go through your routine and get ready. You thought you might sit in the flight deck for awhile. Maybe Peter and the others would call soon? They had been gone for a several days now and you hadn't heard back from them since they left. This was more than likely the source of your anxiety and bad dreams. Once you were ready you grabbed your crutches and headed out the door.

You found Yondu already sitting in the flight deck once you got there.

"Bad dream?" Yondu said this in a way that wasn't exactly a question.

You avoid his gaze. "No," you lied.

"Don't lie to me, girl. I heard you cry out in your sleep from here."

You sigh and look down. "Look, it's just that-"

"I know. Yer worried about Peter and the others. But I know my boy. He's fine. Some missions just take longer is all. That refugee ship that called was probably just broke down, an' he's either fixin' it, pullin' it slowly with his ship, or makin' a bunch of trips to get everyone off that ship and onto the nearest safe planet. It's all gonna be ok."

You keep your gaze down and Yondu pulls you into a side hug.

"C'mon now. You know I'm right. Now show me a smile. Don't make me pry it out of you." He chucked as he started poking you in the ribs, make your face split with a grin.

"Ok! Alright!" You giggle, swatting his hand.

This tender moment would be short lived however, as it was cut off by a thud to the window that made you jump out of your skin, and Yondu too, though he'd try to call it 'moving to attention' or something.

You could barely make out what it was, just that it seemed to be moving slightly, before you heard Yondu calling for Kraglin to get up here immediately.

A while later after Yondu convinced Kraglin to go outside the ship and pull in what had just hit the ship you finally got a good look at it. Or perhaps you should say 'him.'

It looked to be a pale man with raven black hair, clad in clothes of black and green. His lips were dry and chapped and he was covered in scratches and some bruising. He did seem to still be breathing. Unconscious, but still alive, though you weren't sure how that could even be possible given how he was just floating around in space before he hit the ship.

You carefully lowered yourself to the ground and set your crutches to the side. You tried to nudge the man awake gently, but Kraglin had other ideas, using his boot instead to roughly jostle the man. This did prove effective as the man then woke, turning on his side and spluttering a series of coughs before falling back onto his back on the floor and looking around warily.

"Wher- where am I?" He croaked out. He moved to sit up and you helped him. "Who are all of you? Where's Thor?"

"You're on my ship, boy. Now who are you and what were you doing floating around in space?" Yondu asked, before adding, "...and how are you not dead?"

The man coughed again. "I am Loki, of Asgard," he started, "and it takes more than that to kill a god." He seemed to be getting his strength back about him and donned an almost smug smirk.

You, however, were obviously taken aback, and the others noticed. You sputtered out, "I- I'm sorry? You said you were... who?" Surely this couldn't be the same Loki from the stories you learned in school, could it? That was a myth! ...Wasn't it?

The man now let a weak laugh. "I said I am Loki, of Asgard. I take it you've heard of me?"

"Ya know this guy?" Yondu asked incredulously.

"I think the lack of oxygen got to his brain," Kraglin interjected, "he seems to think he's some sorta diety. That, or he's a major crackpot."

The man seemed greatly offended by this and attempted to stand, no doubt wanting to exchange a few "words" with Kraglin, but he did not yet possess enough strength to stand on his own and instead fell back to his knees indignantly.

You stammered answering Yondu's question. "He, ah, you see... back on Earth there are stories about him. Myths and legends telling about old Norse gods. I-I just didn't think they were real."

Yondu raised an eyebrow, not expecting that answer. Like Kraglin, he just thought the man was either some crackpot or was massively full of himself. "He dangerous?" He asked, readying his arrow as he noted your stunned expression. Last time Yondu dealt with a god-like being, things got messy, and he wasn’t looking forward to a repeat.

"Eh... define dangerous...?" you said, earning a look from the man that you thought almost looked like worry. "On Earth, he's known as the God of Mischief."

The man quickly donned a smirk again. "So you have heard of me." He chuckled and coughed again.

"Oh _hell_ no. We already got you. We don't need anymore mischief on this ship." Yondu stated.

This made the dark haired man look at you with amusement. You blushed.

"Hey, um, what kinda stories do they tell about this here "god fella" where you're from?" Kraglin asked you, seemingly wary of him. “An’ he never did say what he was doing floating out in space like that. An’ who’s Thor?”

You looked at the man, Loki, and thought back to the stories you were taught as a child in school and what you read in books. You didn't want to tell any of the more... unflattering... stories, like the one where Loki got Baldur killed, as you didn't know what could be true or just fabricated myth. Yes, if he was telling the truth, then that did mean “Loki, God of Mischief” wasn’t just a myth, but that didn’t mean every story people passed down was true. You didn't want to risk giving Yondu a reason to throw a possibly innocent man out an airlock.

Your mind raced as you tried to remember an innocent enough story, and you thought you could see worry again in the man's green eyes.

In the end you panicked and said "Well, the stories say that Thor was his brother. I don't remember much else, but um, there was this one story where he did kinda... sorta... mate with a horse..."

Loki balked. His gaze rapidly turned between you and the two Ravagers. "She's joking of course." He said quickly, forcing a chuckle.

"...and then he got pregnant and gave birth to an eight legged horse, which he gave as a gift to his father..."

“It-It was a misunderstanding... really! Someone must have twisted the story over the years-”

The look on Loki's face was really amusing. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were bright pink. He looked at you like he couldn't believe you just told them that. You had to fight back a giggle at his expression.

Yondu pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what a horse is, or how any of that would even work, but as long as he doesn't cause any trouble and pulls his weight, he's got a place to stay for now."

Loki, still looking embarrassed, nodded to Yondu. “Thank you-”

“IF, you tell us what you were doing out there.”

Loki blanked. “I, well- space is quite unforgiving, I don’t seem to remember-”

You looked at him. You did of course remember from the stories that he was also known as the God of Lies, with a quick wit and a silver tongue. Again, you weren’t sure if this was true, but he did seem to be trying to fabricate a story.

Yes, it was possible he didn’t really remember, but he was clearly weak and seemed as if he were having trouble thinking straight. After all, who knew how long he had been out there or what happened to him? In any case, it seemed as if he didn’t want you all to know what actually happened.  
You didn’t know why, but for some reason you wanted to help this stranger. He seemed scared, but also like he was trying to hide it. You decided to help, you could always ask what really happened later if you got him alone as long as this prevented Yondu from throwing him off the ship.

“You were calling out for Thor, your brother, remember?” you started. “Did something happen to separate you from him? Maybe an accident?”

“An accident... Yes. There was an accident.” Loki seemed to be trying to figure out how he could run with the lines you were giving him. He gave you a strange look, almost if he were wondering if you were trying to help him draft a cover story for the one he didn’t seem to want to tell. “Our ship hit a... large rock...”

“An asteroid?” asked Kraglin.

“Er, yes, that. It came out of nowhere and must have blown our ship apart.” He looked around, seemingly noticing for the first time that there were no others from his party around. “Did you find any others? Thor?”

“I’m sorry, son.” said Yondu. “Ya was the only one. You jus’ smacked into our window, and we didn’t see any signs of any blown-to-bits ship.”

“Yeah, ya must have been blasted really far away from your ship,” added Kraglin. “an’ who know’s how long ya’ve even been out there? It’s gotta be a miracle you weren’t ripped apart. I doubt there’d be anyone left even if we tried lookin’ for your pals, bud.”

Loki looked down for a moment, before setting his jaw and straightening up the best he could. “Very well,” he said, not really looking at anyone. “then if the offer is still on the table I’d like the chance to earn your favor and join your ship.”

“Yeah, no need to be so formal about it, boy.” Yondu rolled his eyes. “Rest up a day or two to get your strength back then ya can stay as long as you pull your weight and don’t cause any trouble.”

“Thank you.” said Loki, trying to stand. Kraglin helped him keep his balance and Yondu instructed him to take Loki to a room with an empty bunk. Then, in a lower voice added that it should be preferably close to either of their own quarters so he could keep an eye on him, as he still wasn’t sure about him.

Kraglin led Loki away and Yondu turned to you, helping you stand back up on your crutches. As soon as you were up he looked at you with that “lecture” look.

“An’ don’t you think just cuz some ‘god of mischief’ or whatever is here means ya get to recruit him to help ya cause trouble lil’ missy!” He said in half-laugh, half-scolding tone.

“Ah! I’m offended you would even think that!” you exclaimed in mock-hurt, trying your best to contain a grin at his accusation.

Out of the corner of your eye you could have sworn you saw the black haired man turn his head and give you a mischievous smirk just before Kraglin led him around the corner.


	10. What Kind of Magic is This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki’s first few days on the ship. You’d think he’s never had to clean anything in his life. Of course mischief also ensues.

It has been three days since the man named Loki came aboard the ship.

In addition to the extra person on the ship, you now had several questions swirling around your head.

If Loki was real, and apparently also Thor, were all the other Norse gods real as well? Which stories might be real and which might be myth?

Loki was found floating about in space. If he was in space, did that mean he lived on another planet? Was Asgard real too? Were Loki and the other gods really aliens like Yondu or Kraglin?

For now you decided to push these questions aside, maybe you could ask Loki if you ever got the chance and felt brave enough. You didn't want to offend him, after all.

Loki seemed to heal extraordinarily fast for what he had been through, floating in space and all that. He was up and walking around the very next morning, to the surprise of not only you, but Yondu and Kraglin as well. You overheard Yondu wondering to Kraglin how 'that guy’ could be up and about so soon.

While Loki excelled in fast healing, he lacked in the manual labor department. Meaning that once Yondu decided to go ahead and assign him some cleaning duties, he was practically useless. He had actually started to annoy you with how many times he’d come find you to ask how something was done, like cleaning the latrines, or starting a washing machine. At one point you thought in frustration,  _‘Ugh. Did he grow up with a freaking maid???’_  but then after a moment you realized, he probably did. 

You did wonder at first why he didn’t just ask Yondu how to do the tasks when he assigned them, but figured he was probably intimidated by the blue Ravager captain and didn’t wish to irritate him.

On the third day, while you were instructing him how to work the waste compactor, he finally asked you where everyone else was. 

“I’ve noticed it’s just you, me, and the two other men on this ship. Where are the others? Surely it’s not just the three of you on a ship of this size?

“There are others,” you confided. “But they went on a mission over a week ago. They got a distress call from some Asgardian refugee ship. They haven’t come back yet.”

Loki wasn’t looking at you, but you thought he looked a bit pale. “Are you worried?” he asked.

“I wish I wasn’t. I know they’re strong fighters if they got into trouble, they always get out ok. I just wish I had been able to go with them, but, you know...” you say to him, gesturing to your broken ankle as if the crutches weren’t clue enough. “One of them, Peter, he’s like an older brother to me. I’m not sure what I’d do if he didn’t come back.”

Loki nods and turns away, his task completed. “I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. If he’s as good a fighter as you say, then I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” 

You felt there was something odd about the way he wouldn’t look at you as he said this. However, you try to shrug it off, not wanting to project your anxieties about Peter onto this new visitor. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” you say, “I’m going to head back to my quarters. I’ll be there if you need anything else, or even if you just want someone to talk to. I know the other two can be a little rough.” you laughed.

Loki finally faced you again, this time smiling. “Yes, that they are. Thank you for the offer. I’m sure I’ll be in need of your assistance again in no time.” 

You smile and head back to your quarters, noting as you left that you could have sworn there was sadness in his eyes hidden behind the man’s grinning facade.

***

Later that evening you were sitting at your desk getting some reading in before you were needed to go cook supper, as it was your night to cook. 

You heard a knock and turned to see Loki standing in your doorway. You assumed he must have needed help with yet another labor task Yondu had assigned him to do.

“What is he making you clean now?” you chuckle, putting your reading tablet away and trying to hide your annoyance at being interrupted yet again.

“Actually he instructed that I help you cook tonight. He doesn’t seem to have much faith that I would know how.” 

You wince slightly with a grin. “I mean, I can’t exactly blame him... You barely knew how to do any of the other tasks he assigned you. You come off as a little soft in his eyes.”

Loki looked taken aback. “I’ll let you know on Asgard I was trained from a young age to fight and rule. We didn’t have time for other.. menial tasks.”

“Right. Well around here you need to be more than just a good fighter. You also need to pull your weight.” you said, grabbing your crutches and standing up. “Yondu won’t tolerate anyone who doesn’t. Not on his ship.” You grin at Loki as you make your way out the door. “Do you even know how to cook, dude?” 

“Of course!” Loki retorted. You swore you could hear the eye-roll in his voice as he filed out the door behind you.

The two of you finally made it to your destination after a few minutes. It was a large service kitchen, meant at one time to serve a large Ravager crew and now only served the nine Guardians of the Galaxy, which would now perhaps be ten if Loki were to stay for good. You started getting out the ingredients and pots to cook in while Loki assisted. You had him fill a pot with water and you opened one cabinet looking for the pasta strainer.

Upon opening the cabinet you sighed. Someone had of course placed the strainer on the top shelf, and you weren’t exactly the tallest member on the team. 

Because you had just teased him about needing help with so many mundane tasks, you were too stubborn ask Loki, who was by far taller than you, for help. You set your crutches aside and tried to stretch upwards to reach the object without putting weight on your bad ankle, not an easy task.

Loki had finished filling the pot and noticed your struggle as he went to place it on the stove. “Need some help there?” he smirked.

“No. I’ve got it.” Your fingers were just brushing the handle. You were so close, but yet so far, and too stubborn to back down.

“Are you sure? I’m fairly certain I can get it down for you.”

“No, I said I’ve got it.” 

As you said this you nearly lost your balance. Loki saw this and approached you.

“Well if you’re going to be so stubborn, then at least allow me to keep you from falling as you try in this fruitless endeavor.” 

“I’m fine. I said I got it -ack!” 

Loki’s hands had made contact with your lower ribs as he attempted to steady you. This made your arms clamp down to your sides and you made a short, almost strangled, noise.

“Watch it.” you warned, blushing slightly.

“Ah. Ticklish. I’ll be sure to log that away for later.” he laughed.

“Oh shush,” you scolded, rolling your eyes and still blushing. “Just get the damn strainer.”

Loki reached up and grabbed the strainer with ease, grinning at you. “God of Mischief, love.” he laughed.

You took the strainer from him while rolling your eyes. "More like God of being a brat." you said, giving him a playful punch in the arm before setting the strainer by the sink and hobbling over to the counter to grab the cutting board.

This interaction seemed to awaken something in him, as he became more... playful? No. Mischievous would be a more correct word.

You'd chop up some vegetables, turn your back, and your knife would be missing. Get out a new knife because Loki had "absolutely no idea where it could have gone," and soon your original knife would appear right where you left it.

Well, two could play at that game. When Loki had his back turned to check the boiling water, you threw a scrap chunk of vegetable with the stem attached at him and hit him in the back of the head. Of course you had "no idea" how that happened, but now that you had his attention you asked him if he would mind washing the cutting board now that you were finished with it as you grabbed some pasta to dump in the water.

He obliged. Unfortunately for him you managed to sneak a rubber band from your pocket that was the same black color of the the spray nozzle and placed it around the clamp while he wasn't looking.

You were dumping the pasta into the pan when you heard his startled cry. You turned around to find him with a sizable wet patch on his chest and clenched your jaw to keep from grinning.

"You  _didn't_." Loki said with a mix of shock and amusement in his voice.

“I don’t know what you mean.” you say, turning back towards the pot because you were losing the battle not to grin. “But you might want to clean up that water before you slip.”

“Do you really think you can out-trick  _The_  Trickster? Did you learn nothing from those Midgardian stories?” Loki mock-scolded. 

“Again, don’t know what you’re talking ab-AHH!” You jump out of your skin when you realize the spoon you just picked up had turned into a snake. You quickly drop it to the floor, only for it to turn back into a spoon just before hitting the ground. You spun around in shock.

Loki had a look of almost smug amusement. “Do you yield?”

“I didn’t know you could do that.” you reply, gathering yourself. “And no, I do not yield. This isn’t over. However, I would like to offer a temporary truce, so that we can get through cooking supper without accidentally injuring one of us.” 

“Very well.” 

You nod and grab another spoon from the counter as your previous one was now dirty to check the pasta and you both return to finishing dinner. 

Loki strained the pasta for you and asked where the large bowls were. 

You told him to just dump it back in the same pot. “No need to be fancy around here.” you joked, “We’ll just serve it in the same pot we cooked it in.”

You then proceeded to nudge the pot in his direction, but noted in confusion that his eyes got wide as you did so. You quickly realized that, like a dummy, you didn’t think how the pot would still be hot and quickly jerked your and away, perhaps slightly too late to be believable, and feigned the pain you couldn’t feel from the hot surface. 

You made a mental note to be more careful. Yes, if he stayed for good he’d find out about your condition eventually, but that time didn’t need to be now. It’d be nice to have one even just person believe you were normal again, even if you knew it might not last.

Loki looked at you strangely but didn’t say anything. He wondered to himself if he imagined it, or did you really not seem to feel anything at first when you touched the hot metal of the pot? Quite strange indeed.

To change the subject you asked Loki to help you carry the food through the doors to the mess hall.

“You better just leave that all to me, miss. I’m not sure if you noticed, but your hands are going to be a little busy with those crutches. You don’t really seem to be in any condition to be carrying much. Frankly I’m surprised at how well you even maneuvered around to cook.”

You give him a look of contempt. “I’m not helpless,” you scold, moving to pick up the stack of plates and utensils, “I can still carry the plates out.”

Loki blocked your way. “I insist.”

Now if there was one thing you hated, it was being treated like a baby, and though you were sure he was just trying to be chivalrous, it was starting to hit that button. 

“Now listen here you little-” you started to rant about how you didn’t need help but you were cut off when Yondu walked through the mess hall doors into the kitchen.

“What’s goin' on here?” He looked immediately at Loki. The red eyed captain had come by to check how everything was going when he heard you raise your voice from outside the doors. Naturally he automatically assumed Loki was causing you trouble as he still didn’t completely trust the newcomer yet.

“Nothing.” you pouted. You knew Yondu was only going to take Loki’s side on this one.

“I’m trying to convince her to just allow me to carry the meal out, because well...” he gestured to your crutches sitting up against the counter beside you.

Yondu gave you a warning look. “Now what did I tell ya about taking it easy, lil’ missy? Let the boy help ya an’ quit being so damn stubborn.”

You sigh and make a gesture of relent. Loki gives you a cheeky grin as he grabs the pot with the pasta and carries it through the doors to be set on a table.

Yondu gives you a knowing look. “That ankle ain’t even close to being healed yet. Unless ya want me to make Kraglin babysit ya all day, ya better start listenin’ to me an' start takin’ it easy.”

Your shoulders slump as you look at the Centaurian in protest, before finally giving in with a sigh. “Fine.” That didn’t stop you from thinking ‘ _If it was Kraglin or Peter you wouldn’t be forcing them to ‘take it easy,’_  however.

Yondu then picked up the stack of plates so that you couldn’t attempt to as Loki walked back into the kitchen. 

You dejectedly grab your crutches and go to walk past the stove to grab some napkins, cheekily asking Yondu if he’d throw a fit if you tried to carry the napkins.

Before Yondu could tell you to “Watch it.” for your attitude your feet had flown out from beneath you and you landed hard on your back, knocking the wind out of you for a moment. Apparently you had never bothered to pick up the spoon you dropped earlier and you just paid the price for it.

If you could have felt it apparently it would have hurt like hell, as out of the corner of your eye you could see Yondu grip the counter and groan in pain, his knees almost buckling. 

Loki quickly moved to your side, his eyes looking between you and Yondu as he helped you sit up. He didn’t quite know what was going on, but it didn’t take a genius to notice that when you fell, instead of  _you_  crying out in pain, Yondu did. 

That was quite strange indeed, and he was sure he hadn’t imagined it.

Yondu had come towards you as well, a grumpy look on his face. The pain and shock perhaps making him forget that this newcomer wouldn’t understand what had happened, or perhaps he simply didn’t care. “Dammit girl!” he groaned, rubbing his back. “I told ya, ya need to be more careful! Ya almost cracked a damn rib! Ya don’t need that on top of a broken ankle!”

You sighed. “Well soRrY. It’s not like I meant to fall flat on my ass!” you sassed.

Loki looked at you again, and then back up at Yondu.  _‘Does this man feel the pain instead of her?’_  he thought in confusion. This was very strange, yet intriguing. 

He looked at both you again before inquiring, shock clear in his voice. 

“What kind of magic is this?”


	11. Not Everything is Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has been gone long enough that Yondu decides to go alone to look for them. Will he bring back good news?

"Magic? Boy, what ya talkin’ about?” Yondu looked at Loki with a raised eyebrow. “Ain’t no such thing as magic.”

Loki looked back up at the Centaurian as he helped get you back on your feet. “Surely you’re kidding? Only a fool wouldn’t see what just happened. She fell, and you felt her pain whilst she seemingly felt nothing.” Loki then grabbed your arm and pinched it. Instead of you reacting, Yondu jerked his arm in surprise and then his expression quickly turned to anger. Who did this guy think he was?

Before Yondu could spout off at Loki to keep his hands off of you, Loki spoke again. “Is this some sort of curse?” 

You grimaced and turned to look at Loki. “I really wish you hadn’t seen that.”

“Why? If this is some curse, perhaps I could make an attempt to help you break it.” Loki seemed more intrigued than concerned at the idea that what he had seen was the result of a curse.

“Look, boy. I already told yeah, there ain’t no such thing as magic.” Yondu bristled, clearly annoyed that the grown man standing before him still believed in fairy tales.

Knowing firsthand that magic must exist in some capacity based on the fact that Loki had turned a spoon into a snake earlier, but not wanting to go down that rabbit hole, you decided to step in.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that.” You sighed, not actually wanting to tell him, but feeling like not explaining would just create more awkwardness. “It’s just... well... you see-”

“He don’t need to know, missy.” Yondu cut you off, looking even more annoyed. “It’s none of his business. Just get out there an' eat yer dinner before it gets cold. Both of ya.” He motioned you both towards the door leading into the mess hall.

You nodded  and did as you were ordered. Loki led the way and Yondu followed right behind you.

Dinner was pretty quiet after that. Loki tried to ask you about “the curse” once more, but after a deathly glare from Yondu he took the hint and finished the rest of his meal in silence. Kraglin could feel the tension and didn’t attempt to start any conversation, although he did throw some questioning looks your way.

After dinner Yondu instructed Loki to stay behind and wash up and ordered you to head off towards your quarters and rest your ankle. You rolled your eyes but obeyed, suspecting he really just wanted to separate you two for the rest of the evening.

***

The next couple weeks weren’t altogether pleasant. 

Peter and the rest of the team still weren’t back, and there were still no messages from them. 

Yondu had started to become uneasy a week ago. 

One week on a mission? Sure. Sometimes things take longer than expected, don’t necessarily expect a call.   
But two weeks with no correspondence? No. Something must have happened. 

He had started trying to radio to the Benatar, but never got a response. 

You, who had been worried before they even left, were past uneasy or even anxious. You were flat out terrified something had gone wrong now. You were having nightmares more frequently, and they were all similar. Something bad happens to the ship or you all get stranded and then everyone disappears, sometimes dissolving or melting right before your eyes. 

When the three-week mark had passed Yondu took an M-ship to go find them.

He knew you would want to leave with him, but knowing your ankle still wasn’t healed he left while you were sleeping, instructing Kraglin to keep an eye on you and “the other fella” while he was gone.

You were a mess the next two days until he got back. You hardly ate or slept, not knowing what you would do if he didn’t come back either.   
Loki, albeit awkwardly, tried to comfort you, offering his ear if you needed to talk after seeing how anxious you were. If nothing else, the least he could do was offer you the same courtesy you had offered him shortly after he got on the ship.   
However, in your usual fashion you just thanked him before holing yourself up in your room until Kraglin finally came by and told you that Yondu had radioed back to say he had returned and was ready to dock.

When Yondu finally walked out of the Docking Bay you were waiting for him. Kraglin and Loki also joined. Kraglin, because he was just as anxious to see his captain and hear the news as you were. Loki tried to brush off his presence as if he simply didn’t have anywhere else to be, but secretly he was also anxiously awaiting to hear the status report from your captain, though he believed he already knew what to expect, and didn’t have much hope.  
As soon as Yondu was within reach, you immediately gave him a bear hug, before punching him hard in the chest for leaving you behind and scolding him to never do it again. 

However, it didn’t take long to notice he had returned alone. 

He said he had taken off in the direction of the distress call the others had followed, but instead of finding maybe an empty refugee ship he ran into a large cloud of debris. It looked like something large had been blown apart, and there was hardly anything left. He said he looked around the surrounding area for hours, but he hadn’t seen any sign of Peter’s ship or anyone else, nor any sign of where they had gone. He would have looked for longer, but it was clear that anything that had been there was long gone now. Either blown to the edges of the galaxy, or vaporized by whatever had happened.

Your face fell, not that you exactly wore a happy expression in the first place. “So that’s it? We just don’t look for them?” Bitter tears were starting to form in your eyes. You looked over at Kraglin and Loki. Kraglin hung his head to avoid your gaze and Loki stared at Yondu, looking extremely pale. You could see that he was clenching his jaw and his fist, trying to not look affected.

“Sweetheart, you know I would never give up looking for Peter,” Yondu tried comforting, but his voice started to crack as he spoke the next words. “but there couldn’t have been anythin’ left from that scene. If they got caught up in that, if they were there when whatever happened went down... Darlin’, they wouldn’t have made it. There was nothing left.”

Hot, angry tears ran down your face and Yondu pulled you into his chest where you finally broke into hard sobs.

They couldn’t be gone. They couldn’t! It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fucking  _fair_! 

This wasn’t ok. You weren’t ok. You needed them back, Peter most of all. You felt sick, and you began to tremble. Your sobs came so hard your chest began to feel tight. A strange pressure as if someone was sitting on your chest.

You could feel Yondu rubbing his hand up and down your back in a comforting gesture, something he had picked up from Peter. You Terrans were often comforted by touch like this.

Suddenly you began to feel weak and dizzy. Everything started to blur and you wondered if you might faint. You thought you could hear voices but you couldn’t quite make it out. 

Wait? Was Yondu shouting? What was he saying?

You could just make out a few words. “Kraglin!... think... attack... go ready a... Hurry!”

It was then that you realized you were actually on the floor with Yondu above you. But why? When did you get there? Was the ship under attack?

You tried to look around but you couldn’t focus on anything.

You felt hands suddenly grab your face and next you knew you were staring into Yondu’s out-of-focus face. He was saying something.  
State... Henry? No, that’s not it.   
Stay with me? Yes. That must be it. ‘Stay with me.’

And then everything went black.


	12. Please Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yondu has something to tell you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time. Enjoy!

You woke up in a bed that wasn’t yours, inside a room you didn’t recognize. The walls were metal, but painted white. Florescent lights made the room bright and sterile looking.

You looked to your right and saw monitors, which upon closer examination were connected to wires, which were in turn connected to you.

You lifted your arm to find an I.V. and trailed the line up to the I.V. bag.

You didn’t need to look at more to know you were in a Medical Center. However, you weren’t sure why. Everything was fuzzy. You made an attempt to sit up when an arm pushed you back down.

Still groggy you looked to your left to see Yondu. You tried to speak but soon found you weren’t able.

“Don’t try to talk, darlin’, ya got a tube in your throat.”

You look at him, mixed emotions of fear and confusion evident on your face. You thought you could remember something being said about an attack, had you been badly injured? He looked back at you, but you couldn’t quite read his expression. Was that sadness? Relief?

You motioned for something to write on, for any way to communicate.

“I don’t have anything like that for ya, little girl, but I bet ya have questions so I’m just gonna tell ya what happened and we’ll hope that covers most of it, ok?”

You nod.

“Back on the ship, after I told ya what I found -or didn’t find- of Peter’s ship, you went into a heart attack.”

Your eyes widened.

“I had Kraglin ready a ship while I tried to keep you with me.”

You looked around, but didn’t see Kraglin, had he stayed behind? Yondu saw you looking and soon answered this question.

“Ya ain’t gonna find him. Somebody had to stay with the ship, and I wasn’t gonna trust that Loki feller. Krags is back there with him. But back to ya, there’s more. I had to call the emergency line at a Med Center on Xandar to let them know we were comin’, and I set the ship to autopilot so I could make sure you weren’t about to slip away. They told me it was a risk given the condition ya were in, but I had no other choice. I wasn’t about to lose ya too…”

Yondu trailed off and you could feel the concern well up inside you. There was more, you could tell.

“I knew it was a risk, they said so too, but the only way to get you to a Med Center fast enough was by hyper loop. When we landed, I knew something was wrong. Ya had quit breathing, I thought ya were gone. They took ya quick and started shocking ya with the paddles before ya even got inside. They said something about a cardiac arrest. Yer heart had completely stopped.”

You stared at the blue man. You attempted to sit up again, but again he pushed ya back down before you could. This time you noticed that he seemed to wince in pain when you had moved.

“Don’t. Ya don’t wanna be doing that now. Ya need to rest. I ain’t done yet.”

He wasn’t finished? What more could there be?

“They got yer heart working again, but only fir a little bit. It stopped again, and they took ya away. A few hours later a nurse came out to update me. I was sure she was gonna tell me ya were gone. But she didn’t. She told me instead that yer heart had stopped three more times, and that you were being kept alive by a machine because after the third time they couldn’t get it started again.”

Yondu’s voice cracked as he continued, he looked intently at the wall.

“She told me that, being listed as yer guardian and next of kin I had to make the decision. Your heart wasn’t gonna make it, and there wasn’t a chance in hell of finding ya a Terran transplant that matched. A Xandarian heart wasn’t gonna cut it either cuz y'all got different blood running through ya. There was only one other option, and it was either this option or ya died, ya understand me?”

You looked at Yondu. What was the option? What did they do to you? Concern turning into fear, you hesitantly nodded.

“I wasn’t about to lose ya, so I agreed to this other option. I know ya Terrans have certain feelings about these types of things, and ya can hate me all ya want later, but they said it was the only thing left to do. I wasn’t about to lose ya.”

Yondu was starting to scare you. What did they do?!

“They had to take out yer heart, and they replaced it with a cybernetic one.”

You stared him. You… no longer had a heart? Yes, you now had a machine in its place, performing its job, but yours was… gone? And you didn’t even have a say?

You knew you should be grateful to be alive, but this was a lot to take in. You lay there in stunned silence, feeling hot tears well up in your eyes and spill out onto your cheeks beyond your control.

Yondu stood. “I understand if you need a moment. Take your time to be mad at me, but I did what I had to do.” He started to walk out of the room.

You stared in disbelief for a moment. You tried to call to him, but of course you could not due to being intubated. You settled for angrily beating on the rail of your bed, which caught his attention.

He turned to you, and though you couldn’t speak he understood perfectly what you were trying to say:

‘Don’t go. Please stay.’


	13. Making Mischief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To take your minds off of your recent tragedies, Loki suggests some mischief. Yondu and Kraglin are not amused.

You were still trying to process the news about your new heart, even though it had been about three and a half weeks since Yondu broke the news to you. 

It wasn’t until later that same day that you were deemed well enough to have the tube removed, which was a rather… unpleasant experience. Once it was out and you were free to talk you asked Yondu more about your stay. 

According to him you apparently had been out for a day and a half since the operation, and during that time the doctors took the liberty to examine your ankle, seeing as it was definitely not treated professionally. Luckily for you, Peter had done a decent job setting it and therefore it wouldn’t be required for the doctor’s to re-set it, a task that would require re-breaking your ankle to set the bones properly. Since it appeared to be healing fine they merely re-wrapped it and estimated it would need to remain wrapped for just another few weeks. 

You soon found out these weeks would also be spent with you remaining in the Med Center in physical therapy as you got used to your new cybernetic heart.

Now you were back on the Eclector, with a fully healed ankle and instructions to continue your physical therapy exercises and to be easy on your ankle for a least a couple more weeks. This was a task Yondu prodded you about daily, which was starting to annoy you. You were still taking everything in regarding your heart on top of losing nearly everyone you loved. In your opinion, the physical therapy was the least of your concerns.

You lay on your bed staring at the ceiling when you heard a knock. You look over to see Loki standing in your doorway.

“What?” you sigh. Couldn’t you have just a few moments to yourself?

“Just thought I’d stop by to see how you were. It’s been awhile, quite frankly I’m surprised to see you again.”

You rolled your eyes. “Well here I am. I’m sure the other two already told you what happened.”

“No, actually. Your captain isn’t very forthcoming, I’ve found.”

“Well, that’s Yondu for you.” you say, turning over and hoping he’d get the hint.

If he did he ignored it. “You seem to be unhappy. Do you care to talk about it?”

Talk about it? Where would you even begin? “I don’t know. It’s just a lot.”

“I’m willing to listen.” Loki replied.

You turned to face him still at the doorway. “Do you actually want to hear it or are you just bored?” you sassed, figuring it was more likely the latter. He had been cooped up in the ship with no one but Kraglin and Yondu for the last few weeks.

“Yes,” was all Loki responded with.

You bit back a grin and roll your eyes. He was such a shit, but you couldn’t help but find a bit of humor in his non-answer of an answer. Well, if he really wanted to know, you’d let him have it. You sigh and let yourself unload on him. 

You tell him everything that’s been bothering you the past few months. 

You told him about your CIPA condition and how you had hidden it from the team for years, but they found out anyway when you got sick and how after Yondu learned about your CIPA he volunteered to undergo the procedure that allowed him to feel your pain for you in an attempt to keep you safe. 

You tell him how you lost a man that was like a brother to you as well as most of the rest of your family. You tell him how you hated yourself for breaking your ankle before they left because if you hadn’t maybe you could have gone with them. Maybe there was something you could have done to help them avoid their fate. 

Before you knew it you were telling him you hated the fact that they were dead while you lived. How now you live with a cybernetic heart because your own heart had failed you and that fact that you still didn’t know how to deal with this fact.

You told him all this and he listened patiently. You were surprised that you were allowing yourself to be this open with him, you would blame this on stress later.  

It wasn’t until you noticed his expression shift that you noticed you had begun crying. You quickly wipe your eyes and sit up on the bed, turning your face away and hoping he hadn’t noticed but knowing he must have. You tried to deflect. “Well, that’s enough about me. Why don’t you tell me something about you for a change? Unless I scared you off.” you weakly attempted a laugh.

“Perhaps another time.” Loki said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Your story of losing your team only brought back the memories of losing his own family, and for once in his life he didn’t feel like talking about his tragic past. “Perhaps we should find something to take our mind off of our recent tragedies.” he said instead.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I  _am_  the God of Mischief.” he said with a smirk as he motioned to himself. “Take a wild guess.”

You rolled your eyes and allowed yourself to grin. “You ever rig up a shower head with dye?” 

Loki’s grin widened. “There’s a first time for everything.”

“Excellent.” You beamed, getting up and rummaging through your drawer for the bottle of red dye left over from the time Rocket showed you how to set up a dye bomb in Yondu’s dresser. You smiled bittersweetly at the memory and turned toward the dark haired man. “We should hurry if we don’t want to get caught.”

“The danger is just part of the fun my dear.” he laughed.

The two of you snuck down towards Yondu and Kraglin’s quarters. You had just enough dye to split between the two shower heads and if you and Loki worked quickly there would just enough time to rig them up before Yondu and Kraglin finished tuning up the M-ship.

You hand Loki a dye pack and instruct him how to unscrew the shower head and dump in the dye before screwing it back in. Then you both quickly split off and take a room. You took Yondu’s and Loki took Kraglin’s.

You had done this before, but you still tried to move quickly just in case Loki might need help, though you suspected the God of Mischief could handle himself. However, in your haste you slipped on the tile floor and landed hard on your back.  _‘Shit!’_  you thought. Yondu totally would have felt that one. You scramble to your feet and run out of his quarters to hurry Loki up before Yondu came to check on you.

As you came out of his quarters you found Loki exiting Kraglin’s door. “I heard a noise,” he said.

“Don’t worry, it was just me being clumsy. Did you get it done?” you asked.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s hurry and get out of here! Yondu is bound to come check on me.” you urged.

Loki raised an eyebrow, but followed your lead. “Did you get hurt?” 

“No, but I landed hard and he’s like a worried mother hen. He checks on everything now if the chip tells him I’m in any sort of pain.”

“Well do you need to check?” Loki asked. You were both now turning the corner out of the hallway leading to their rooms, but your adrenaline at the risk of being caught wouldn’t allow you to slow down. You wanted to put as much distance between you and their rooms as possible.

“No, I don’t need to check. I’m fine!” you urged. “It was just a-”

“There ya are, missy!” 

You heard Yondu call from the opposite end of the hall you had just turned into moments before. You internally groaned and turned to face where his voice had come from.

“What happened now? Come here,” he ordered, closing the distance in the hallway. He didn’t seem thrilled, no doubt assuming Loki must have done something. Kraglin wasn’t too far behind him, meaning they must have finished tuning up the ship faster than you expected and were already headed this way, which would explain why they got here so fast.

“I’m fine!” you said, rolling your eyes. your heart was beating a mile a minute. You now realized you had been just minutes away from getting caught regardless if you had fell and alerted Yondu. It wasn’t lost on you the fact that if your fall hadn’t caused you to rush out as quickly as you had, you and Loki might still be back there with no way to avoid getting caught.

“Ya know ya can’t lie to me, girl.” Yondu scolded. He reached out for you, no doubt intending to check your back for bruising, but you pulled back with an exasperated huff.

“Look, I just slipped and fell. Happy? You can’t worry about every little thing. I’m going to live.”

Wrong choice of words. Yondu glared at you. “I’ll worry all I want, little girl!” he snapped back. He looked at Loki. “An’ what are you doin’ here?”

Loki clearly hadn’t expected to be made part of the conversation, but he quickly recovered. “I saw her slip and fall, so I offered her a hand up.”

Yondu looked quickly back at you. “So ya fell and couldn’t get up?” His face was cross, assuming you were hiding a worse injury.

Loki interjected before Yondu could go full mother-hen mode. “Oh, no, sir! I can assure you she was fine. I only offered her my hand as it was the gentlemanly thing to do.”

Yondu eyed him suspiciously. “She don’t need any of yer ‘gentlemanliness,’ boy.”

Kraglin gave Loki a look as well. “Yeah. So don’t you think about getting any ideas now.”

“Oh, no no no! I can assure you it was nothing like that!” Loki quickly said, holding his hands up. He chuckled nervously, not expecting the men to jump to that conclusion so quickly over a mere story of lending you a hand.

You blushed, realizing what was going on. “Yondu! Krags- Geeze! Can’t a guy just be nice without you two assuming he has ulterior motives?” 

“Nope,” they said in unison, both giving Loki the stink eye.

“Perhaps… I should be going?” Loki said, nervously chuckling as he took a couple steps back.

“Yeah. Perhaps ya should.” Yondu drawled, crossing his arms. After Loki had taken a couple steps down the hall Yondu called out to him. “Ya know, boy, I think the floor in the kitchen could use a shinin,’ maybe ya should get on that.”

Loki begrudgingly turned and called back a “Yes, sir.” and left, but not before you silently mouthed the words “I’m sorry!” at him.

You punched Yondu in the shoulder. “You’re so embarrassing! There’s literally nothing going on between us!”

“I believe ya girl, but that don’t mean he won’t try somethin.’” the blue man warned, eyeing him as he walked away.

“Ugh!” You roll your eyes and storm away from the men in the direction from where they came, feeling it wouldn’t be good if Yondu assumed you were following Loki. In truth, yes, Yondu was being embarrassing, but you were really just glad you and Loki hadn’t been caught in the middle of a prank. If that happened you now worried Yondu might have thrown him out an airlock if he saw you teaming up after how he reacted to Loki being “gentlemanly” towards you. He really was turning into a mother hen.

You definitely weren’t going to regret what would happen when they finally took showers tonight. 

*******

* * *

 

*******

You were startled awake by the sounds of shouting coming from somewhere in the ship. It took only moments for you to wake up enough to realize that Kraglin and Yondu must have discovered the prank that awaited them in their showers. 

Unsure of the time you check your watch and realize it was morning, meaning that they either opted to wait until the woke to shower, or that neither of them had bothered to look in the mirror before heading to sleep last night. You quickly get up and get dressed to assess the damage, trying to hide the grin on your face as you exited your room.

Your glee was short lived, however, as when you finally tracked the shouts to their source you realized that the guys were yelling at Loki, and they looked very mad.

“Ya think this is funny, boy?!” growled Yondu, shoving Loki against the wall. Yondu was mostly dressed, and looked to be dry. Kraglin, however, was still mostly wet and was still in his towel. Looks like both your assumptions were right. 

Loki held his hands up in surrender and claimed innocence, but you could see he was trying desperately not to crack a grin at the sight.

Kraglin was stained with reddish splotches covering most of his face and torso, but Yondu was now a solid new color. The red had blended with the blue tint of his skin and resulted in a deeper purple, very similar to the shade he had turned that time when a dye bomb blew up in his face, but much more even. It was apparent that Kraglin had noticed the color change much faster than Yondu, and must have jumped out of his shower halfway through, whereas Yondu obviously didn’t notice anything until he glanced at a mirror this morning.  _‘The man must have been very tired last night or he showers in the dark,’_  you thought. 

You suddenly realized that Yondu was a shade of purple that very closely related to Barney the Dinosaur and a snicker escaped before you could stop it.

The three look toward you.

“Yeah, get a good laugh.” Kraglin scolded. “We’re throwing your friend out the air lock.”

“What?!” You and Loki cried in unison, Loki now starting to look concerned. He clearly hadn’t anticipated this.

“Why?” Your eyes were wide as you quickly made your way over to the men. Surely they wouldn’t?

“Why d’ya think?” scolded Yondu, motioning to himself and Kraglin. “I bet he didn’t like me warnin’ him to stay away from ya and decided to turn the water in our showers red!” He sneered, grabbing Loki’s collar “I knew it was a mistake allowin’ a guy who calls himself a ‘god’ on the ship.”

“You can’t!” you blurt out. “It was me! I did it!”

The three men look at you again. Kraglin & Yondu in bewilderment, as you never admit to your pranks, and Loki in both relief that this might save him an unpleasant trip and awe that you seemed willing to take all the blame.

“What now, girl?” Yondu said coldly, still not yet releasing Loki.

“I did it! It was just a prank! You can’t throw him out the airlock!” Your voice was almost pleading. “It- It would be bad form to do that to a man who didn’t deserve it!” you tried. You were sure you remembered a pirate from a movie citing something about bad form, and Yondu was just a former space pirate, right? Surely this would resonate with him? 

It worked. 

Begrudgingly, Yondu shoved Loki away with a scowl. “Ya get out of it this time, boy. Get out of my sight.”

Loki shot you a quick grateful glance and wasted no time making his way away from the angry captain.

Yondu then turned to you. “I can’t exactly say I’m surprised, but yer still gonna scrub the M-Ship for this, missy,” he scolded. “D’ya have anythin’ to say fer yerself? 

You grinned nervously. “Uh... it was funny?”

Kraglin glared at you. He had clearly gotten the worse end of the prank since he had jumped out of the dyed water partway through. “Yeah, I disagree, brat. Try again.”

“Um... yeah, I got nothin.” You confessed. “I mean, I got Yondu because he was being a mother hen, but you were really just collateral damage.” you giggled nervously. Kraglin was definitely going to kill you. He stormed off, stating that he was going to try and wash off as much of that dye as he could once his water ran clear again.

“A mother what?” Yondu asked, sure that he should be insulted, if only he knew what that meant.

“A mother hen? You know, being really over protective?”

“I’m not over-protective, girl!” he scolded.

“You so are! I mean, you yelled at Loki yesterday just because he said he leant me a hand when I fell, and you constantly obsess if I’m hurt and check up on me every 10 minutes!”

“I have my reasons.”

“Yes, I know you care about me, but this is exactly the reason I hid this from everyone for so long in the first place! I don’t need to be babied!” 

Yondu softened a little. He more than understood by now your desire for independence after everything you had been through. “Come here, little girl,” he said, pulling you into a hug. “I know. I know ya can take care of yerself, but I just wanna make sure yer ok. Ya scared me. I thought I’d lose ya too.”

You sighed, accepting the hug. “I know. But I’m doing a lot better now, you need to see that. I’m not just going to drop dead any second, you kind of made sure of that for me,” you tried to joke about it, but the subject of your new heart was still tender for you, and the humor fell a little flat. 

Yondu didn’t say anything for a moment, just rubbed his hand your shoulder in a comforting gesture. He knew he had made a decision for you that wasn’t truly his to make, but he didn’t regret it for a second. He also knew you weren’t ungrateful, but it would still take you time to come to fully come to terms with it. Eventually he tried to lighten the mood. 

“D’ya think Kraglin knows that stuff ain’t gonna wash off?”

You giggle and break the hug to look up at him. “No. He’s gonna be stained all blotchy for weeks because he let it dry on him like that. You got lucky, at least you’re an even shade of purple.”

“I suppose being too tired to notice had its advantages.” Yondu laughed, tweaking your ribs in retaliation and eliciting a squeak from you. “Ya better hurry up and get that M-Ship washed before I think of another way to punish ya,” he chuckled.

You rolled your eyes playfully but did as you were told. In a way you thought you were getting off pretty easy, at least it wasn’t toilet duty.

“An’ don’t think about doing this again!” Yondu called out after you. “Or I’ll put you on grease trap duty for a month!”

You grinned and shot back a thumbs up as you walked away. It’s not like you had a choice anyway, that was the last of your dye.

***  
After you finished cleaning the M-Ship you looked for Loki and found him relaxing atop his bunk in his quarters. You looked around for Yondu before entering, not wishing him to assume anything else. You lightly knocked on his doorway to get his attention.

“Hey, so uh, sorry about earlier. The whole... you almost getting ejected from the ship thing, I mean.”

Loki grinned and sat up. “I’ve had worse. Though I must thank you for taking the blame to save me from a rather unpleasant fate. They don’t quite seem to like me, do they?”

“Let’s just call us even, since you covered for me yesterday and Yondu made you scrub the kitchen,” you laughed, “and you’re just new to them still. I’m sure they’ll learn to trust you over time.”

“Well, perhaps not if we continue making mischief at their expense,” he chuckled. He pretended to think a moment. “Perhaps we should... stop?”

“That’s unfortunate,” you grin, certain he didn’t mean a word of what he was saying. “how else will we entertain ourselves? And moreover, I’m surprised the ‘God of Mischief’ would suggest  _avoiding_  mischief.” 

Loki looked at you, slightly surprised and intrigued. “Madam, are you suggesting that you’d like to make  _more_  mischief? Aren’t you concerned of the consequences?” You could see a grin playing at his lips.

You grinned wider, “Maybe I am. Besides, didn’t you say ‘the danger is just part of the fun?’”

A mischievous smile cracked Loki’s face, “Well then, where shall we start?”


End file.
